Pakistan and the case of Asia Bibi: the government bows to the protest of Islamists

Three days after the acquittal of a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy in Pakistan, Islamists suspended their national protests on the basis of an agreement with the government: the radical Islamist group Tehreek-e- Labaik Pakistan (TLP) on Friday called the government to reconsider If agreed, TLP spokesman Pir Zubair Kasuri said.

According to the agreement, "the government will not oppose an appeal against the decision of the Supreme Court of acquittal of Asia Bibi". In addition, measures were taken to "prevent Bibi from leaving the country". The Minister of Religion, Noor-Ul-Haq Qadri, and the Minister of Information, Fayazulhasan Chohan, confirmed the agreement that the agreement signed by the Islamists and the government belonged to the # 39; AFP.

The street protests erupted on Wednesday after the acquittal of Christin Asia Bibi, convicted of blasphemy, by the Islamabad Supreme Court. Previously, she had spent eight years on death row. The 51-year-old was accused of making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad in a conflict with Muslim women in their village.

In 2009, one in five mothers was arrested and sentenced to death as a result of a controversial blasphemy law in the Muslim majority country. The judges had now found that the allegations were legally weak.

Unclear location Bibis

After the cancellation of the death sentence, the TLP requested the dismissal of the judges and the execution of Bibi. The extremists demonstrated in the streets and, according to the police, blocked one of the main access roads to Islamabad, the capital. For fear of violent riots, schools were closed throughout the country.

The Pakistani government has sent soldiers to several major cities to protect its offices. Tensions in Pakistan were exacerbated on Friday by the announcement of the death of Pakistan's top religious leader, Sami Ul-Haq.

For the current residence Bibis, there was initially no official information. According to local media, she may have fled Pakistan. According to the "German wave", however, she should still be in prison.

Saiful Malook, Bibi's lawyer, left Pakistan on Saturday morning, fearing for his life. "The safety of my family is also seriously threatened," said Malook. But he will come back to defend Bibi in court if the army gives him security. Islamists' violent reaction to the verdict was "sad, but not unexpected," he said. "Painful", however, is the government's response. "You can not even enforce a decision from the country's highest court," he lamented.

Human rights activists have criticized the agreement reached between the government and Islamists in Pakistan as a "declaration of bankruptcy of the law". "This agreement makes the Pakistani legal system the prey of the Islamist mob". If the Supreme Court had spoken, the government should not allow Islamists to evade their jurisdiction, said the director of the Society for Endangered People, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Saturday.

The case had caused a sensation worldwide. It is only in Pakistan that the public fears extremists. Two politicians campaigning for Bibi were killed.