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Pakistani Christian woman in limbo despite acquittal by top court
ISLAMABAD, Nov 3, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The fate of a Pakistani Christian woman
accused of blasphemy was in limbo Saturday after the government allowed
Islamist hardliners to appeal against her acquittal and put her on a no fly
list.
Asia Bibi’s lawyer who saved her from the gallows left the country early
Saturday after threats to his life.
Bibi, who had been on death row since 2010, was acquitted of all charges by
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday, triggering protests by Islamist
hardliners who paralysed the country for three days blocking roads and
disrupting traffic in major cities.
The protesters however ended their action Friday night after the government
reached a controversial deal to put Bibi on the no fly list and saying it
would not object to an appeal against the verdict, which was filed earlier in
the Supreme Court.
“We have requested the Supreme Court to put Asia Bibi on the Exit Control
List as soon as possible so that she could not fly out of the country,”
Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry, the lawyer of Qari Salam who filed the case against
Bibi, told AFP.
“We fear that she would be flown out of the country so we have requested
the court for a early hearing of the case,” he said adding that he would
“exploit all legal remedies to make sure Asia Bibi is hanged according to the
law”.
Bibi’s lawyer Saif-ul-Mulook and Pakistani media criticised the government
for caving in to the Islamist hardliners after Prime Minister Imran Khan had
earlier appeared to stand up to them following the court verdict.
Mulook said the Islamist outcry was “unfortunate but not unexpected”.
“What’s painful is the response of the government. They cannot even
implement an order of the country’s highest court,” he said, adding that “the
struggle for justice must continue”.
– ‘Another surrender’ –
Dawn, the country’s oldest newspaper, blasted the deal as “another
surrender” in an editorial on Saturday.
“Yet another government has capitulated to violent religious extremists who
neither believe in democracy, nor the constitution,” it read. According to
the agreement, which came after a failed first round of talks, legal
proceedings will follow to impose a travel ban on Bibi and stop her leaving
the country.
“Her life would be more or less the same, either inside a prison or in
solitary confinement for security fears” until a decision on the appeal, said
Mulook.
Blasphemy is a massively inflammatory charge in Muslim-majority Pakistan,
where even unproven allegations of insulting Islam and its Prophet Mohammed
can provoke death at the hands of vigilantes.
Mulook himself left Pakistan early Saturday, citing threats to his life
from Islamist hardliners and other lawyers.
“In the current scenario, it’s not possible for me to live in Pakistan,”
the 62-year-old lawyer told AFP before boarding a plane to Europe. “I need to
stay alive as I still have to fight the legal battle for Asia Bibi,” he said.
Meanwhile life in the major cities of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad
returned to normalcy as shops opened and traffic resumed after the protesters
dispersed Friday night.
The Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan party (TLP), which has largely led the
demonstrations, announced an end to the mass protests after reaching a deal
with the government.
A five-point agreement seen by AFP, signed by both parties, said the
government would not object to an appeal of the verdict, filed earlier in the
Supreme Court.
The TLP, founded in 2015, blockaded the capital Islamabad for several weeks
last year calling for stricter enforcement of Pakistan’s controversial
blasphemy laws.
That protest forced the resignation of the federal law minister and paved
the way for the group to poll more than 2.23 million votes in the July 25
general election, in what analysts called a “surprisingly” rapid rise.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1832 hrs