LONDON – Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has stated that Aasia Bibi is free and can go anywhere she wants, dismissing the reports that the Christian farm worker has fled to another country already.
“She is free to leave Pakistan if she wants and swift measures will be taken to ensure her security,” he said during an interview to a British TV channel. “No one would be allowed to challenge writ of the state.”
Earlier, on Jan 30, the Supreme Court had dismissed a review petition against Asia Bibi’s acquittal.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khan Khosa and comprising Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel had rejected the appeal after hearing arguments from the appellant’s counsel.
“The appellant failed to prove flaws in the announced judgment,” ruled the CJP. “There were clear contradictions in evidences and depositions.”
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/asia-bibi-to-join-her-daughters-in-canada-after-cleared-of-blasphemy-charges/
The top court ruled that she would not be retried on blasphemy charges stemming from a 2009 incident in which she was accused of drinking water from the cup of a Muslim woman. She was found guilty of insulting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and sentenced to death. That verdict was overturned last year by the Supreme Court and upheld in the recent decision.
After Bibi’s acquittal in October, violent mobs protested in Lahore and Bibi was transferred to protective custody while members of Tehreek-e-Labbaik, a politico-religious movement in Pakistan, went house-to-house seeking to kill her. Her daughters, 18 and 19 years old, were quietly brought to Canada in December.
Ottawa is a leading contender to give the whole family asylum.
