Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi will spend Christmas in custody because ‘people want to kill her’
- Pakistan’s Supreme Court overturned Bibi’s death sentence for blasphemy in October, and she has legally been a free woman ever since
- Bibi, who is seeking asylum abroad, remains in protective custody
Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi will celebrate Christmas under guard, despite being cleared of the blasphemy charges that kept her in jail since 2010.
Bibi – a former labourer who was on death row for eight years – remains a prime target in conservative Muslim-majority Pakistan, with extremists calling for her blood and the government refusing to reveal her location out of fear for her safety.
“It’s too dangerous … People want to kill her,” said Yousaf Hadayat, a resident from one of Islamabad’s impoverished Christian ghettos, littered last week by a smattering of Santa hats and Christmas trees.
Security this Christmas, like many before it, will be tight with the government set to deploy armed forces to the Christian colonies.
Residents say they feel more uneasy than ever during the religious holiday while Bibi’s fate continues to loom large.
“We’re afraid,” said Pastor Munawar Inayat at Holy of Holies Church in Islamabad.
“We can’t speak against anyone.”