Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy after spending eight years on death row in Pakistan, has left the country for Canada to be reunited with her daughters, Pakistan’s media said.

Wilson Chawdhry of the British Pakistani Christian Association told the Associated Press on Wednesday that he had received a text message from a British diplomat stating simply: “Aasia is out.”

A close friend of Ms Bibi confirmed that she had left the country, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Ms Bibi was convicted of blasphemy in 2009 after a quarrel with a fellow farm worker.

She spent eight years on death row until the Supreme Court last year overturned her conviction. She has since been in protective custody.

Islamic extremists have rioted over the case and threatened to kill her. </s> Asia Bibi: Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy is now in Canada

Asia Bibi: Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy is now in Canada

A Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy after spending eight years on death row in Pakistan has landed in Canada to be reunited with her daughters, her lawyer has said.

Saiful Malook told Sky News on then phone that Ms Bibi arrived in Ottawa yesterday.

She was convicted of blasphemy in 2009 after a quarrel with a fellow farm worker.

The mother-of-five spent eight years on death row until the Supreme Court overturned her conviction in October.

She has since been in protective custody.

Mr Malook said Canadian officials have greeted Ms Bibi and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is aware of her arrival.

"She is now free and can live her life," Mr Malook told Sky News.

Islamic extremists have rioted over Ms Bibi's case and threatened to kill her.

The same radical Islamists, many of whom have been jailed for their threats, also urged the overthrow of the government following Ms Bibi's acquittal.

It has been a case of high-tension from the outset, with Salman Taseer, a Punjabi governor who supported Ms Bibi, shot by his own bodyguard in Islamabad in 2011.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted about Ms Bibi's release: "Fantastic news that Asia Bibi appears to have left Pakistan safely."

Ms Bibi's husband, Ashiq Masih, asked Theresa May to grant them asylum in Britain following her acquittal. He also called for asylum from US President Donald Trump and Mr Trudeau.

Mr Trudeau said his government was in talks with Pakistan over granting her asylum in November.

The blasphemy law in Pakistan carries a mandatory death penalty and many hardline religious groups are opposed to it being amended.

The mere suspicion of blasphemy against Islam is enough to ignite mob lynchings in the country.

Those accused of blasphemy are incarcerated immediately, denied bail in most cases and put in solitary confinement.

Ms Bibi has always maintained her innocence.

More than 1,300 people have been charged in the last 30 years and many of them have been murdered before their trial is even complete.

A close friend of Ms Bibi's, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said Ms Bibi and her husband had spent the last several weeks getting their documents in order.

He said she was longing to see her daughters, who have fled to Canada and were granted asylum there.

Ms Bibi has talked to them almost daily from her secure location, protected by Pakistani security forces, the friend added. </s> ISLAMABAD (AP) - A Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy after spending eight years on death row in Pakistan has left for Canada to be reunited with her daughters, Pakistani media and a friend close to her said Wednesday.

Wilson Chawdhry of the British Pakistani Christian Association told The Associated Press Wednesday that he received a text message from a British diplomat saying "Aasia is out." A close friend of Bibi also confirmed that she had left the country, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Bibi was convicted of blasphemy in 2009 after a quarrel with a fellow farmworker. She spent eight years on death row until the Supreme Court last year overturned her conviction. She has since been in protective custody.

Islamic extremists have rioted over the case and threatened to kill her. The same radical Islamists, many of whom have been jailed for their threats, also urged the overthrow of the government following Bibi's acquittal.

The case has brought international attention to Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law, which carries an automatic death penalty. The mere suspicion of blasphemy against Islam is enough to ignite mob lynchings in the country.

The friend, who last spoke to her on Tuesday, said Bibi and her husband Ashiq Masih had spent the last several weeks getting their documents in order. He said she was longing to see her daughters, with whom she talked to almost daily from her secure location, protected by Pakistani security forces.

FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2010, file photo, Aasia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman, listens to officials at a prison in Sheikhupura near Lahore, Pakistan. Pakistani media say Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy after spending eight years on death row, has left Pakistan for Canada to be reunited with her daughters. Wilson Chawdhry of the British Pakistani Christian Association told The Associated Press on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, he received a telephone text message from a British diplomat stating simply that "Aasia is out." (AP Photo, File)

Chawdhry said he had been in regular contact with Bibi's husband throughout the ordeal as well as with several diplomats as part of an international effort to have her freed. </s> Asia Bibi had been waiting for months for paperwork to be completed so that she could take up an offer of asylum afp/Getty Images

A Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy charges after spending eight years on death row in Pakistan left the country last night to be reunited with her daughters in Canada after months of delays.

Asia Bibi, a 47-year-old mother of four, had been under pressure not to speak out against the state. Arrangements for the family remain a closely guarded secret, with Islamist hardliners still calling for her to be killed.

A government official in Pakistan told The Times this morning: “Asia Bibi left Pakistan according to her own wish. She was a free citizen.” Friends and other officials confirmed that she had departed.

A foreign diplomat said: “We are delighted. We were afraid of her security and there were hurdles in completing her travel arrangements.” </s> A Pakistani Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy after spending eight years on death row has been freed from prison, her lawyer said.

Some reports say Asia Bibi has boarded a plane but its destination was not known, BBC reported on Wednesday.

The Supreme Court ruling sparked protests from Islamists and the government had said it would bar her from leaving Pakistan.

Her husband had said they were in danger and pleaded for asylum.

Also Read: Pakistani Christian woman in limbo despite acquittal by top court

Asia Bibi, a mother-of-five, was released from prison in the city of Multan, her lawyer Saif Mulook said.

Also known as Asia Noreen, she was convicted in 2010 of insulting the Prophet Muhammad during a row with neighbours.

Several countries have offered her asylum.

The Pakistani government has said it will start legal proceedings to prevent her going abroad after agreeing the measure to end the violent protests.

Many of the protesters were hardliners who support strong blasphemy laws and called for Asia Bibi to be hanged.

One Islamist leader said all three Supreme Court judges also “deserved to be killed”.

Also Read: Fearing for life, Asia Bibi’s lawyer flees Pakistan, requests government to protect family

A spokesman for the hardline Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP) party said Asia Bibi’s release was in breach of their deal with the government.

“The rulers have showed their dishonesty,” TLP spokesman Ejaz Ashrafi said.

The deal also saw officials agree not to block a petition for the Supreme Court to evaluate Asia Bibi’s acquittal in the light of Islamic Sharia law.

The trial stems from an argument Asia Bibi had with a group of women in June 2009.

They were harvesting fruit when a row broke out about a bucket of water. The women said that because she had used a cup, they could no longer touch it, as her faith had made it unclean.

Prosecutors alleged that in the row which followed, the women said Asia Bibi should convert to Islam and that she made offensive comments about the Prophet Muhammad in response.

She was later beaten up at her home, during which her accusers say she confessed to blasphemy. She was arrested after a police investigation.

Acquitting her, the Supreme Court said that the case was based on unreliable evidence and her confession was delivered in front of a crowd “threatening to kill her”. </s> Asia Bibi, Pakistani Woman Acquitted Of Blasphemy, Is Freed From Jail

Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman acquitted days ago of blasphemy, has been freed from jail after spending more than eight years in solitary confinement awaiting execution.

The acquittal of Bibi, who is Catholic, was announced just over a week ago by Pakistan's Supreme Court, which said her accusers had not definitively proved her guilt. She was permitted to leave jail immediately after the verdict, but her release was delayed after protests from an extremist religious group, demanding she be killed.

Citing officials, the BBC reports that Bibi left her detention facility in Punjab province under heavy security on Wednesday and was flown to a secure location in Islamabad.

Bibi was convicted of blasphemy in 2010 and sentenced to death. The conviction stemmed from an argument with her fellow Muslim farm workers. They accused her of being impure by virtue of her faith and claimed she insulted Islam.

Her case galvanized the country's religious right and sparked international concern over human rights and religious freedom in Pakistan, which is overwhelmingly Muslim.

As her conviction was reversed, "followers of a hard-line Pakistani religious group rushed onto major roads across the country to paralyze traffic in protest of the decision," according to NPR's Islamabad-based correspondent Diaa Hadid.

The mobs demanded Bibi, as well as the three Supreme Court judges who acquitted her, be killed.

The Italian government said earlier this week it would help Bibi and her family relocate. Several other Western countries have also offered her asylum. In the past, both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have advocated for her. </s> Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who was acquitted of blasphemy in Pakistan last week, has been freed from prison, her lawyer says.

"I have been told that she is on a plane, but nobody knows where she will land," lawyer Saiful Mulook said on November 7 in a message sent to the AFP news agency.

The Associated Press quoted unidentified government officials as saying Bibi left a detention facility in Punjab Province, where she was detained, and was flown to an undisclosed location in the capital, Islamabad.

Bibi had spent eight years on death row for allegedly insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad before Pakistan's Supreme Court overturned her conviction on October 31, triggering violent protests by hard-line Islamists calling for her execution.

In a deal with the hard-line Tehrik-e Labaik (TLP) party that ended the protests, the Pakistani government on November 3 indicated that it will bar Bibi from traveling abroad pending a "review" of the Supreme Court’s decision to acquit her.

Bibi's husband, Ashiq Masih, has pleaded for asylum from Western countries, saying his family is in great danger in Pakistan.

Mulook, her lawyer, fled to The Netherlands.

Bibi, a mother of five, has denied the blasphemy charges against her.

Insulting Islam is punishable by death in Pakistan, and the mere rumor of blasphemy can lead to lynchings by mobs.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP </s> The lawyer who helped Asia Bibi, a Christian woman freed from jail after Pakistan’s top court overturned her death sentence in a blasphemy case, was offered a temporary asylum in the Netherlands on Thursday after he fled from Pakistan fearing for the safety of his family. Lawyer Saiful Mulook defended Asia Bibi who spent 8 years on death row until being acquitted on Wednesday.

This has come a day after Asia Bibi was released from Multan jail. There were reports that she was taken to Noor Khan Airbase Rawalpindi from where she was supposed to fly to the Netherlands, however, earlier today Pakistani authorities refuted these reports, saying she has not left for the Netherlands and was in Pakistan.

WHAT IS THE ENTIRE CASE?

Aisa Bibi is the second Pakistani Christian who was sentenced to death under country’s blasphemy laws under section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code for defaming Prophet Mohammad. The offence if proven carries the mandatory death penalty under the law.

The case dates back to 2009 when as per Asia she entered into a quarrel with Mafia and Asma, both are eyewitnesses in the case and deposed to Asia making blasphemous remarks. The argument started when both the women refused to drink water brought by Asia Bibi because she was Christian. The two, Mafia and Asma along with a local cleric, Qari Mohammad Salaam later filed the case of blasphemy against her.

A trial court convicted Asia Bibi for blasphemy in November 2010 and sentenced her to death, but the order was suspended by the Supreme Court in 2015.

In 2018, the Supreme Court gave the final verdict acquitting Asia from all charges.

The case attracted international coverage and became a high profile one when two officials, former Punjab governor Salman Taseer and former Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti (a Christian) were assassinated for taking Asia’s side publicly. </s> The Pakistani Christian woman who spent years on death row after being convicted of blasphemy has left the country where she has been living in hiding as one of the nation's most reviled figures.

Asia Bibi's lawyer, Saif-ul Malook, told NPR the practicing Catholic and her husband arrived in Canada on Tuesday, where they have reunited with their children.

"I am happy that she has been allowed to leave the country," Malook said.

Although he was unable to speak with Bibi before her departure, he said the Canadian embassy arranged the couple's move. "She will be more secure in Canada," he added.

"I think it is a wise decision by the government of Pakistan to let her go. After all they did not have any legal justification to bar her from traveling because she was a free citizen after the Supreme Court's decision."

Although she was exonerated in October 2018, a review petition against her release prevented her from leaving the country. That was rejected a few months ago.

Bibi, an illiterate farm worker, was convicted of blasphemy in 2010 after being accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad by her fellow Muslim workers when they feared she might drink water from the same vessel. She was sentenced to death and spent more than eight years in solitary confinement before the country's Supreme Court acquitted her in October 2018.

The reversal and the court's subsequent decision to uphold the ruling, each sparked days of violent demonstrations and rioting that roiled the country. Religious radicals, who demanded her execution, levied death threats against Bibi as well as the judges who freed her. They also urged Pakistani military forces to revolt against the army chief of staffs and for the public to overthrow of the government.

For their own protection, Bibi and her husband had been living in an undisclosed location since her conviction was overturned. For months, she had been planning to join her two daughters, who had also faced threats of violence in Pakistan and fled to Canada where they received asylum.

Global Affairs Canada, the Canadian government's diplomacy arm, said it had no comment on the matter.

"Asia Bibi is now free, and we wish her and her family all the best following their reunification," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Wednesday. "The United States uniformly opposes blasphemy laws anywhere in the world, as they jeopardize the exercise of fundamental freedoms."

Responding to reports of Bibi's successful departure to Canada, human rights organization Amnesty International said, "She should never have been imprisoned in the first place, let alone faced the death penalty. That she then had to endure the repeated threats to her life, even after being acquitted, only compounds the injustice. This case illustrates the dangers of Pakistan's blasphemy laws and the urgent need to repeal them."

As NPR's Philip Reeves reported, despite pressure from international organizations and governments, as well as more progressive pockets of the population, "open discussion of the blasphemy laws will remain extremely difficult in Pakistan because of the deadly response it can draw from religious extremists."

On Tuesday, Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, which has been in contact with Bibi throughout the ordeal, said she and her husband "have remained resolute in their faith and have prayed daily for their release and today God has answered their prayers."

The group reports 14 Christians, in addition to Bibi, have been accused of blasphemy in recent years and in remain in jail.

"Since 1990, at least 65 people have reportedly been killed in Pakistan over claims of blasphemy," the BBC reported.
Asia Bibi, a Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy after spending eight years on death row, has left Pakistan for Canada to be reunited with her daughters.