Asia Bibi freed from Pakistani prison after spending eight years on death row for blasphemy
- The conviction stemmed from a 2009 incident when Muslim women objected to her touching a shared water bowl because she is Christian
- When her conviction was overturned last week, hardliners called for ‘mutiny’ against the army’s top brass and the assassination of the top court’s justices
A Pakistani Christian woman who spent eight years on death row for blasphemy has been freed from jail and is believed to have already flown out of the city of Multan where she was being held, heading for an unknown destination, her lawyer said on Thursday.
Asia Bibi’s release comes a week after her acquittal in a landmark case that triggered angry Islamist protests in Muslim-majority Pakistan and following appeals from her husband for Britain or the United States to grant the family asylum. Her lawyer fled to the Netherlands on Saturday under threat to his life.
Bibi’s conviction was overturned by the country’s highest court last Wednesday but she remained in prison as the government negotiated with hardliners who blockaded major cities and demanded her immediate execution.
“She has been freed,” lawyer Saif-ul-Mulook said via text message. “I have been told that she is on a plane but nobody knows where she will land.”
According to a civil aviation official, the aircraft that collected Bibi from jail would be required to land in Islamabad but it was unclear if she may have had a connecting flight.