Pakistani cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi
Pakistani cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi
Pakistan's government says Twitter has suspended the account of a radical Pakistani cleric for posting inflammatory statements against the Supreme Court, prime minister, and military after the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a Christian woman accused of blasphemy.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said it requested that Twitter suspend the account of cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi after his Tehrik-e Labaik Pakistan (TLP) party blocked roads for three days last week and threatened Supreme Court judges who acquitted Asia Bibi on October 31.

PTA officials said they'd complained that Rizvi incited "hate and violence" by urging the cooks and servants of the Supreme Court judges to kill them.

There was no immediate comment from U.S.-based Twitter.

Rizvi has said that "there will be a war" if the Pakistani authorities allow Bibi out of the country.

Criminal cases have also been registered against hundreds of demonstrators and organizers of protests that took place during the past week against the court's decision, the Dawn newspaper reported on November 4.


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Senior police officer Nayab Haider said that more than 150 people were arrested on charges of arson, vandalism, and violence during the demonstrations.

He said that police were using video clips to identify those involved in assaults, torching property and vehicles, and blocking highways.


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A government official estimated that the protesters caused around $1.2 billion in damages.

Bibi, a mother of five, had spent eight years on death row for allegedly insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad before the court overturned her conviction and ordered her to be freed. Bibi has denied the charges.

Her husband, Ashiq Masih, on November 4 pleaded to be granted asylum by Western countries, saying his family was in great danger in Pakistan.

"I am requesting [U.S.] President Donald Trump to help us to leave [Pakistan], and I am requesting the prime minister of the U.K. help us and as far as possible grant us freedom," Masih said in a video message.

He also called on Canadian leaders for help.

Meanwhile, the lawyer who defended Bibi in the Pakistani courts said on November 5 that the United Nations and European Union made him leave the country "against my wishes" because his life was at risk.

The lawyer, Saiful Mulook, told a press conference in The Hague, Netherlands, that he contacted a UN official in Islamabad after Islamist violence erupted following the Supreme Court's ruling.

"And then they and the European nation ambassadors in Islamabad, they kept me for three days and then put me on a plane against my wishes," Mulook said.

The lawyer earlier said he had left Pakistan "to save [my] life from an angry mob" and because of fears for the safety of his family.

Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan, and the mere rumor of committing the crime has led to lynchings in the past.

Approximately 40 people are believed to be on death row or serving a life sentence in Pakistan for blasphemy, according to a 2018 report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.