Asia Bibi: Pakistan’s top court upholds blasphemy acquittal
Asia Bibi, the
Christian farm labourer who spent eight years on death row in Pakistan for
blasphemy, is expected to leave the country after the supreme court upheld her
acquittal. The court on Tuesday
rejected a challenge to October’s
ruling brought by an extreme Islamist party, which led violent
protests across the country in the autumn and called for Bibi to be killed. Bibi, who has been
held at a secret location since her death sentence was overturned, could be
flown out of the country within hours. Two of her children are
reportedly already in Canada, which has offered Bibi asylum.
After the ruling,
Bibi’s lawyer, Saiful Malook, suggested that she could leave Pakistan
imminently. “I think at this time she is here [in Pakistan] – but by tonight, I
don’t know,” he told reporters outside the court. Extremists had “said
they would kill her despite the judgment of the supreme court. Therefore, I
think she should leave the country.” The supreme court’s
decision was welcomed by Christian and human rights campaigners, who have
lobbied western countries to offer sanctuary to Bibi, her husband and five
children. In November, Justin
Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, said his country was in talks with
Pakistan about helping her. Australia, Spain and France are also thought to
have offered sanctuary.
Chief justice Asif
Saeed Khosa, one of a three-judge panel that considered the petition, said:
“Based on merit, this review petition is dismissed.” He added: “The image
of Islam we are showing to the world gives me much grief and sorrow.” Malook, who returned
to Islamabad at the weekend after fleeing to the Netherlands amid death threats
following October’s ruling, called the decision a victory for Pakistan’s
constitution and rule of law. The court had “insisted on very strict proofs of
blasphemy” and found none, he said.
In a statement,
Amnesty International said Bibi should be free “to reunite with her family and
seek safety in a country of her choice”. John Pontifex of Aid
to the Church in Need, which campaigned on behalf of Bibi and her family, said:
“This is a victory for the rule of law in Pakistan and promises to draw a line
under a miscarriage of justice that has cost almost 10 years of pain and
suffering for Asia Bibi and her family. We are all so happy for them. “Now, please God, Asia
can be reunited with all her family and together rebuild their lives in a new
and safe environment.”
Zoe Smith of Open
Doors, which campaigns against Christian persecution around the world, said:
“We are overjoyed that justice has prevailed and are praying that this heralds
a new era of equal rights for Christians and other religious minorities in
Pakistan.” She added: “Asia and
her family’s safety remains of paramount importance. Many Christians will still
be praying for their safety.” David Alton, a peer
who advocates for religious freedom, said: “We cannot forget that Asia Bibi’s
case is one of many, and that, by some estimates, more than 70 people are
currently on death-row for alleged blasphemy crimes.” Bibi now needed to be
“given time and space to rebuild her life”.
But Hafiz Ehtisham
Ahmed, an Islamist activist linked to the extremist Red Mosque in Islamabad,
said Bibi may not be safe wherever she goes. “She deserves to be murdered
according to sharia. If she goes abroad, don’t Muslims live there? If she goes
out of Pakistan … anybody can kill her there,” she told AFP. The Tehreek-e-Labbaik
Pakistan (TLP) party, which was formed to defend Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and
which led violent protests demanding Bibi’s execution after her acquittal,
called on Tuesday for its members to be ready for action. However, most of its
leaders are in detention after a government crackdown, and there were few
protesters at the court in Islamabad.
Bibi was sentenced to
death in 2010 in what swiftly became Pakistan’s most infamous blasphemy case.
She had been accused by Muslim villagers of insulting the prophet Muhammad in a
row over a cup of water. She always insisted she was innocent. Blasphemy is a highly
inflammatory issue in Pakistan, where even unproven accusations of insulting
Islam can spark lynchings. Human rights activists say blasphemy charges are
frequently used to settle personal scores.
After the supreme
court overturned her conviction, cities across Pakistan were paralysed for
several days by violent demonstrations with enraged extremists calling for her
beheading. In a deal to end the
violence, the government, led by the prime minister, Imran Khan, struck a deal
allowing the petition seeking an appeal against the supreme court’s judgment.
Khan was accused of capitulating to the extremists’ demands.
