Asia Bibi Leaving Pakistan ‘Very Soon’ According to Prime Minister
by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Pakistan’s Prime Minister has assured media that Asia Bibi, the Christian woman holed up in solitary confinement for ten years after being charged with blasphemy, “will be leaving in weeks,” according to the BBC.
Bibi, who was convicted in 2010 after a dispute with Muslim co-workers that ended with claims she had slandered the prophet Muhammad, was acquitted by Pakistan’s highest court in October of last year, a decision which the court upheld in January while nevertheless continuing to shroud Bibi’s whereabouts in secrecy.
Despite being granted asylum in Canada, reports surfaced last month that Bibi “was very unwell,” and according to her friend, Aman Ullah, living in a sort of house arrest under military protection due to the protests by hardliners that erupted after her acquittal.
‘[The military] are in control of her. They are fearful about getting a negative press if she speaks out about her experiences,” said Ullah of the government’s apparent lack of resolve in following through with its decision to let Bibi go.
Article 295C of Pakistan’s constitution, otherwise known as the “blasphemy law” that forbids slander against the prophet Muhammad, is estimated to have led to the extrajudicial killings of over 60 people and the prosecution of 200 others besides Bibi.