make them more moderate. Her changes were reversed by the Nawaz Sharif administration. Some people accused of blasphemy have been killed in prison or shot dead in court, and even if pardoned, may remain in danger from imams in their local village. Ayub Masih, a Christian, was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death in 1998. He was accused by a neighbor of stating that he supported British writer Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses. Lower appeals courts upheld the conviction. However, before the Pakistan Supreme Court, his lawyer was able to prove that the accuser had used the conviction to force Masih's family off their land and then acquired control of the property. Masih has been released. On September 22, 2006, a Pakistani Christian named Shahid Masih was arrested and jailed for allegedly violating Islamic "blasphemy laws" in the country of Pakistan. He is at present held in confinement and has expressed fear of reprisals by Islamic fundamentalists. (Note that the name "Masih", which comes from Arabic المسيحيين Al-Masihiyyin, "Christians", is a common surname in Pakistan and India among Christians.) In November 2010, Asia Bibi was sentenced to death by hanging for "blasphemy"; the sentence has to be upheld in higher court before it can be executed. Bibi was acquitted in 2018. In August 2012, Rimsha Masih, a Christian girl, reportedly 11 or 14 years old, and an illiterate with mental disabilities was accused of blasphemy for burning pages from a book containing Quranic verses. The allegation came from a Muslim cleric who himself has subsequently been accused by the police of framing the girl. The girl, and later the cleric, were both arrested and released on bail. In July 2013 Shagufta Kausar and Shafqat Emmanuel, a Christian couple, were arrested and charged with blasphemy for allegedly sending a text message in English, that was considered offensive of Mohammed. Both members of the couple are illiterate and do not speak English. Sentenced to death, they remained on death row for eight years before their sentence was overturned. Unable to remain in Pakistan, for lack of safety, they were granted asylum in a European country. In 2018, Amoon, 42, and Qaiser Ayub, 45, both Christians, were convicted of blasphemy and given the death penalty. Authorities were alerted a WordPress.com blog in 2011 that violated the country's blasphemy laws. The blog, allegedly created by a Muslim man close to the