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- Born in Pakistan, Christian Bibi was charged with blasphemy in 2009 and sentenced to death a year later. Blasphemy is considered a capital crime in this strictly Islamic country.
- In a sensational verdict, the country's supreme court acquitted the defendant unexpectedly on Wednesday.
- Radical Islamist groups and parties reacted with indignation, demonstrations took place in several cities. Angry campaigners have called for revenge against judges and politicians.
- The government has now found a compromise. As a result, an appeal against the judgment of the Supreme Court should be possible. Until a new decision, Bibi must remain in prison.
It started with a cup of water. Asia Bibi had been drinking because she was so thirsty. She had picked berries from the field on June 14, 2009. The midday heat was oppressive, the work was painful. So she brought some water from the well. Soon, she also wanted to let the other workers drink, but they only shouted at Bibi. They could never drink in a cup previously used by a Christian, and now all the water is impure to Muslims. Then the women clashed in the field, they fought verbally, as Bibi later remembered. Except that she did not immediately realize what danger this quarrel represented for her.
A year later, a court imposed a death sentence on Bibi. She had insulted the prophet that day, was the verdict of guilt against the mother of five children. The maximum penalty. Bibi was then the first woman hanged for blasphemy. For eight years, the explosive file dragged on, he went through the Pakistani authorities. At the end of this week, three judges of the Constitutional Court annulled the death sentence and ordered the immediate release of the Christian.
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Bibi, who was not sitting in the room reading the acquittal, could not believe the news that she had been given over the phone. "Is this really true?" asked the 51-year-old. "Will I really go out?"
The fact that the supreme judiciary in the Bibi case revealed the mistakes made in the previous proceedings was a surprising twist. For Ashiq Masih, Bibi 's husband, it was a "glimmer of hope", as he said in an interview. But hope did not last long. Since the cancellation of the death penalty, religious fanatics have cracked down in Pakistan's Muslim majority. Preachers of hate marched through the streets, calling for Bibi's death and shouting: Kill the judges.
Under pressure from radical fanatics, the government decided on Saturday that an appeal against the verdict was possible. Until then, Bibi is not allowed to leave the country and remains in jail. "This agreement should never have existed," says the husband. "My daughters aspire to see her free, but the vocation will prolong once more the sufferings of my wife."
Aspiring to life in freedom: Asia Bibi.
(Photo: AFP)
Even the found guilty lawyer Christin must now see how he survives. Until the last minute, he fought for Bibi's freedom. A brave man, many say. "But in fact, I'm very scared," said the defender. On weekends, he learned that he had escaped to Europe. "I have to stay alive because I have to continue the conflict for Asia Bibi," he told the Pakistani liberal newspaper dawn,
The crowd in the street does not hesitate long
The eight years of martyrdom on Bibi's death row reveal how appalling the lives of members of religious minorities in Pakistan have become. It is considered certain that the laborer was the victim of a treacherous village intrigue. The allegations that she insulted the prophet have never been proven, but Bibi denied it. This is often the case in alleged cases of blasphemy: a conflict intensifies and a rumor is quickly fanned. Whoever presents himself as an alleged pill-blazer threatens life seriously, as is the case in Pakistan, especially if the suspect belongs to a religious minority. The crowd in the street does not hesitate long. And the courts are still under pressure from the Hetzer.
Since the arrest of Bibi, no day has pbaded without fear. From the cell of death, she wrote: "Every time the door opens, my heart races, my life is in the hands of God and I do not know what is happening to me, it is a brutal and cruel existence ".
After all, she knew that there were still people who fought for their lives, lawyers and politicians who showed courage. One of them was the governor of Punjab, another the Minister of Religious Minorities. Both were shot dead by the radicals in 2011 because they wanted Bibi to live. After that, it was even harder for the mother to survive in the cell.
Bibi aspires to safety. Leaving Pakistan, reunited with his family, who fled. She wants to start a new life in a place where you can drink water without ending up on death row.
After Saturday's events, it became less likely that this wish would come true.
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