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Asia Bibi, the Christian farm labourer whose blasphemy case has triggered violent protests and assassinations in Pakistan, is still in prison a week after the country’s supreme court overturned her conviction.
Her husband and children are living at a secret address in Pakistan in fear of their lives, and have made repeated appeals to the international community to help secure the whole family’s safety.
“Help us get out of Pakistan. We are extremely worried because our lives are in danger. We no longer have even anything to eat, because we cannot leave the house to buy food,” Ashiq Masih, Bibi’s husband, told Aid to the Church in Need, which campaigns on religious freedom.
He told the BBC World Service that he had not seen Bibi since her acquittal, and the family was worried about her safety. Religious extremists have threatened to kill her.
Bibi’s lawyer, Saiful Mulook, fled Pakistan at the weekend after being issued with death threats, and is seeking asylum in the Netherlands.
A deal stuck between the government and religious conservatives to end three days of protests has left Bibi in limbo – technically free but unable to be released.
As part of the deal, the government agreed to allow a review of the supreme court’s judgment, which was made public last Wednesday and was expected to be the final ruling in the long-running case.
“Asia Bibi is in Multan jail and has not been released yet. We have not received orders to release her so far,” said Zawar Hussain Warraich, minister for prisons in Punjab province.
He said she was “well protected by the jail staff” and would be released as soon as a directive was received.
Canada, France and Spain are reportedly considering offering asylum to Bibi and her family. Her husband has also appealed to the UK and the US to offer a safe haven.
In Italy, Matteo Salvini, the hardline anti-migrant interior minister, said he would do “all that is humanly possible” to ensure Bibi and her family were safe, either in Italy or elsewhere.
Bibi spent eight years on death row following her conviction for blasphemy after a row with Muslim women in her village. Two Pakistani politicians were killed for publicly supporting her and criticising Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.
The supreme court’s decision last week to overturn the verdict led to violent protests throughout Pakistan and calls for the judges in the case to be killed.
Religious conservatives have said they will escalate their protests if Bibi is permitted to leave the country. The government has indicated it will bar her from traveling abroad.
Imran Khan, Pakistan’s prime minister since July, has been criticised for capitulating to extremists over the case.
“Khan swept to power earlier this year on promises to restore the rule of law, to champion the oppressed and marginalised, and to deliver justice. His party is, after all, called the Movement for Justice,” said Omar Waraich of Amnesty International.
“But what does that even mean when, in the space of just two days, he went from warning the mob against using violence, to bowing to their demands?”
Khan’s former wife, Jemima Goldsmith, accused him on Twitter of caving in “to extremist demands to bar #AsiaBibi from leaving [Pakistan], after she was acquitted of blasphemy – effectively signing her death warrant”.
The Religious Liberty Commission, a coalition of organisations campaigning against Christian persecution, have called on Khan to allow Bibi to leave the country.
“Following her unjust imprisonment and long-awaited release, it is clear that Asia’s life is in danger in Pakistan … As others involved with the case continue to flee the country, we affirm that Asia’s safety is the now the responsibility of prime minister Khan,” it said.
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