Extremists vowed to kill Christian farmworker who faced death sentence before conviction was overturned
A Pakistani supporter of a hard-line religious party, holds an image of Asia Bibi during a protest.
A Pakistani supporter of a hard-line religious party, holds an image of Asia Bibi during a protest.

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan’s highest court affirmed its decision to free a Christian woman who had been convicted of blasphemy, dismissing a legal challenge by religious hard-liners.

The case of Asia Bibi had drawn an international outcry and demonstrations at home by Islamic extremists, who demanded that the death sentence decided by a lower court in 2010, be maintained. Sporadic protests broke out in several Pakistani cities after the decision on Tuesday.

Ms. Bibi said she had “never been so happy in her life” in response to the decision, an adviser to the family said, “’Now I know that for the first time in nine years, I’ll be able to hug my daughters,’” the adviser said she told him.

Ms. Bibi’s two daughters, ages 20 and 19, went quietly to Canada in recent weeks, according to the adviser. She and her husband are likely to join them there now while they determine where they will settle for the long term, the adviser said.

A poor farmhand who was working for less than a dollar a day before she was jailed, Ms. Bibi, 54 years old, has never been outside the country.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in November that his government was in talks with Islamabad about taking in Ms. Bibi. However, she would like to settle in Europe, the adviser said. Politicians from the European Union have been at the forefront of international calls for her release and for providing asylum, and diplomats said countries there are prepared to take her.

“We are working with like-minded friends and allies on this issue” said Brittany Fletcher, a spokesperson for Canada’s foreign ministry. “Canada is prepared to do everything we can to ensure the safety of Asia Bibi,”

In October, in a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that Ms. Bibi’s conviction was based on a “feast of falsehood” and that she must be freed. However, Pakistani authorities said she had to remain in the country until religious groups had exhausted all legal avenues. Tuesday’s ruling did just that.

The Supreme Court’s stance in the case gave hope to those campaigning for reform of Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy laws, which critics say are open to abuse with fabricated and malicious allegations used to settle personal scores. Religious minorities in particular have been victims.

After the October ruling, Ms. Bibi was released from jail but kept at a secret location and guarded by security officials. Her attorney said she had concluded she must leave for her safety.

“She has no option,” said her lawyer, Saiful Malook, who has himself received death threats. “They will kill her.”

Ms. Bibi was jailed in 2009 after a quarrel erupted while picking fruit in a field in Punjab province. Muslim women refused to drink water she had fetched because she was Christian. Muslim villagers accused her of denigrating the Prophet Muhammad during the argument that followed, leading to the blasphemy charges against her.

Two lower courts found her guilty before the case reached the Supreme Court.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/court-clears-way-for-woman-with-overturned-blasphemy-conviction-to-leave-pakistan-11548760316?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1

Wow thank you Jesus. She should leave that nation as fast as her legs can carry her...falopey pls post the source link

This is why people born into most religious setting choose the dominant religion in their locality as against their conviction. Thank God for her life.

HigherEd:
Wow thank you Jesus. She should leave that nation as fast as her legs can carry her...falopey pls post the source link

As far as possible oh . . .
they say there is no compulsion in Islam but then they intimidate the other religion with their numbers.
That's why Islam hardly grows in any area not already dominated.