Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy in Pakistan, is confirmed to have left the country and arrived in Canada, Pakistan's Geo TV broadcaster reported Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th May, 2019) Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy in Pakistan, is confirmed to have left the country and arrived in Canada, Pakistan's Geo tv broadcaster reported Wednesday.A Roman Catholic villager from Pakistan, Asia Bibi was sentenced to capital punishment for drinking from a public water jug and spent eight years on death row before her conviction was overturned in October 2018.
Bibi's daughters were already waiting for in Calgary, a family friend has confirmed to local media, adding that Canadian authorities intend to keep the family under tight security and Bibi is not expected to interact to media.
Asia Bibi's acquittal triggered tumultuous protests in Pakistan, and fellow countrymen demanded to re-consider the verdict and immediately execute her. The government had to impose a travel ban on Bibi to mild the strife. When the apex court rejected the petition to cancel the acquittal in January, Bibi was placed in a clandestine location. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi later confirmed that the government will protect her indefinitely should she choose to stay in Pakistan but that she was free to leave if she wanted.
Bibi's case has sparked uproar, both in Pakistan and abroad. In the United Kingdom, members of parliament expressed concerns about allocating 9.3 million Pounds ($11.7 million) as part of the government's global security program to Pakistan whose government "not only use the death penalty but are also complicit either in torture or human rights abuses."
