Sentenced to death and then acquitted but still imprisoned. The fate of Asia Bibi, a pakistani christian born in 1971, remains uncertain. She had been sentenced to death in 2010 for blasphemy for having derogatory remarks against islam, when neighbours had denied that she drinks water in their glass because she was not muslim. The accused, who has always denied having committed any blasphemy that it is, had been paid last October 31 by the supreme Court of Pakistan. This decision has provoked the wrath of islamists, who have blocked the main axes of the country for three days. The protests only ended after the signing, late last week, a controversial agreement with the protesters. The government is committed to initiate a procedure aimed to prevent Asia Bibi to leave the territory and not to block a request for revision of the judgment of acquittal. Since then, the fate of this farm girl christian crystallises the international community. The president of the Republicans, Laurent Wauquiez, and the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has called on Monday in separate messages to the French authorities to intervene to “save the life” of Asia Bibi.
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In a message published on Monday evening on the social networks to the address of the head of State, the president of the region of Auvergne, the Rhone-Alps felt that”today, a woman has need of France”. “The word of France cannot remain silent”, he urged. “France has to put pressure on the government of pakistan that Asia Bibi is released and able to leave with his family to Pakistan, where her life is in danger,” he continued, saying that “it is the honor of the president of the Republic and of France as to offer in times like these its protection”. “It is the life of a woman, but it is also in our conception of civilization in the face of the barbarity of the islamist”, was also considered the patron of LR.
“If France and the international community does not engage with goodwill, we can fear the worst for Asia Bibi”
For its part, the municipal official socialist said he is “ready” to host in the capital, she is a citizen of honor in 2014. “The acquittal of Asia Bibi by the supreme Court of Pakistan has been a real relief for all those and all those who, like me, had provided support and had called for his release in recent years”, said to AFP the mayor socialist in the margin of a move to Lille, where she attended the general Assembly of francophone mayors.
“But his situation remains particularly precarious, as it is still imprisoned and that she and her loved ones are the object of very numerous death threats”, she added. “France has the duty to help him, and his family, by working together with Pakistan to allow them to take refuge in another country, where it will be safe and where she can practice her christian religion in freedom”, asked Anne Hidalgo. “It was an emergency. If France and the international community does not engage with goodwill, we can fear the worst for Asia Bibi. Do not wait until a tragedy occurs. It is now that we must act,” she again pleaded.
The husband of Asia Bibi requested asylum for his family
This weekend, the husband of Asia Bibi had sought asylum for his family in the United States, Great Britain or Canada. “I ask the president and Donald Trump to help us to leave. After that, I ask the first minister, uk (Theresa May) to do his best to help us,” said Ashiq Masih, in a video message. The husband of Asia Bibi has also applied for the”help” of the canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
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“These countries have the largest communities of christians in pakistan” and we speak English, a language that learn the daughters of Asia Bibi, but that she and her husband do not speak, said Wilson Chowdhry, the president of the association of pakistani christians in Britain, that help Asia Bibi and her family for years. In the video, Ashiq Masih also calls for asylum for Joseph Nadeem, who has hosted his family since the sentencing to death of his wife for blasphemy in 2010.
“If Asia Bibi is leaving the country, every member of his family, each person associated with it, will be killed,” worried Wilson Chowdhry, who estimates that “less than twenty” the number of people to obtain asylum in this case. Saturday, Ashiq Masih had asked the authorities to “strengthen the security” of his wife “in prison”, criticizing the agreement signed by the government.
The lawyer of Asia Bibi has left Pakistan
The same day, the lawyer of Asia Bibi, Saif-ul-Mulook, was reported to have left Pakistan “against its will”, the united nations and the european Union (EU) fearing for his safety in the face of threats from radical islamists. During a press conference held this Monday, Saif-ul-Mulook said he contacted a person in charge of the united Nations in Islamabad after the acquittal history of Asia Bibi by the supreme Court provoked the wrath of the extremists muslims.
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The lawyer of Asia Bibi was a refugee in the netherlands “against her will” – to Look on Figaro Live
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“They (the UN) and the ambassadors of the european nations in Islamabad have kept me for three days and then put me on a plane against my will,” said the lawyer, who left Pakistan on Saturday and is now in the netherlands. “I told them that I’d leave the country as Asia would not be out of prison”, he insisted. “I’m not happy to be here without her, but everyone said “No, you are the main target for the moment and the whole world attends of Asia Bibi””. “They were of the opinion that my life was in imminent danger. For three days, they didn’t let me open the door,” added the lawyer.
