London: April 27, 2011. (PCP) CLAAS has voiced concern over the plight of Younas Masih with MPs, MEPs, and representatives of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the UN. Masih was accused of blasphemy in 2005 and sentenced to death in 2007, since which time he has been held in Kot Lakhpat jail. CLAAS has received reports that Masih fears for his life because of tensions over the blasphemy laws and related deaths. He has been attacked twice in prison by inmates and guards without anyone being held to account. In light of these concerning reports, we are pressing the Pakistani government to step up security for Christians accused of blasphemy and to conduct their trials within the prisons as moving them to another venue has simply become too dangerous. Given that many of these cases are based on trumped up charges, we believe that they should be conducted as quickly as possible in order to prevent Christians from languishing in prison for years for crimes they never committed. The lengthy process is not only traumatic for those imprisoned, but for their families, particularly where the accused is the chief breadwinner for the family. We are asking politicians and UN and Commonwealth officials to press Pakistan on this issue and do what they can to ensure that blasphemy cases are conducted according to international norms. In a separate letter to Home Secretary Theresa May, CLAAS raised its concerns over Christian mother-of-five Asia Bibi, who remains in prison awaiting the outcome of an appeal to her death sentence. Her family are already living in hiding out of fear for their lives and if her appeal fails, Bibi will be executed in November. Even behind her bars, her situation is extremely precarious. She has already had to be moved to a women-only prison after extremists threatened to bomb the previous prison she was in and in recent months, the Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer and Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti were both murdered for their support of changes to the blasphemy laws. In our letter, we asked the Home Secretary not to refuse the asylum applications of Christians facing persecution in Pakistan on the grounds that there is a very high chance that they will be attacked, persecuted or killed upon returning to their country. We also asked that the British government use its considerable influence internationally and take all appropriate steps to secure the rights of minorities in Pakistan, which will in turn reduce the number of people seeking asylum in the UK and in other countries where human rights are taken seriously. Labour MEP Richard Howitt assured us in a letter this month that MEPs are also “deeply concerned about the climate of intolerance and violence” in Pakistan and have urged the Pakistani government to prosecute those inciting violence and particularly those calling for and in some cases offering rewards for the murder of individuals or groups with whom they disagree.