Asia Bibi case: Christian woman jailed for blasphemy free to leave Pakistan after supreme court ruling

‘This decision will help eliminate the atmosphere of fear’

Pakistan‘s supreme court has upheld its decision to acquit Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who spent eight years on death row over blasphemy charges.

Ms Bibi’s case became a totemic cause for fundamentalist preachers in Pakistan, after she was accused of insulting the prophet Muhammad during an argument with two Muslim women. She strongly denied the allegation.

Her conviction and death sentence were thrown out by the supreme court in October, which cited a complete lack of evidence. The decision sparked protests across the country.

On Tuesday afternoon, Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said in court that the acquittal would stand. “Based on merit, this review petition is dismissed,” he told a lawyer representing the dozens of petitioners. “You could not point out [even] a single mistake in the supreme court’s verdict.”

Ms Bibi’s supporters at the court were jubilant. Human rights activist Farzana Bari said: “This decision will help eliminate the atmosphere of fear.”

Saif ul-Mulook, Ms Bibi’s lawyer, had returned to Pakistan for Tuesday’s proceedings after himself fleeing the country to the Netherlands amid threats from hardliners.

Speaking to The Independent after the three-judge bench threw out the petition, he said it had always “lacked the legal requirements” to force the supreme court to review its decision. “I was very much confident before the hearing that this review petition would not be accepted,” he said.

Leaders of the hardline Tehreek-e-Labaik movement, which led last year’s protests, had warned the court not to rule in favour of the “blasphemer”.

Amid the threat of new unrest, previous protest leaders were arrested and tight security measures were taken across Islamabad, with police and paramilitary rangers deployed inside and outside the supreme court. Access to the court was unusually limited only to those with special clearance.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, the heavy police presence had effectively deterred people from assembling in the capital.

The government of Imran Khan had previously quelled unrest over the matter by reaching an agreement with Tehreek-e-Labaik, stating Ms Bibi would be barred from leaving Pakistan until the review petition was heard.

Zubair Rizvi, a Tehreek-e Labaik spokesperson, alleged that the government had breached a promise to have the case go before a larger bench of judges including sharia court figures.

“We are not accepting the decision and our agitation will continue, our leadership will decide the future plan,” he said, adding that the group would defy a crackdown on its central leadership by staging protests nationwide.

The claims against Ms Bibi, a mother of five, began in June 2009, when she was picking berries with other farmworkers in a field in Punjab and got into an argument with two Muslim women who, it is claimed, refused to drink water she fetched because it had been touched by a Christian.

The women later went to a local mullah to report that Ms Bibi had insulted the prophet Muhammad during the exchange. She and her lawyers have always denied any blasphemy took place, yet despite a lack of evidence or witnesses a local court moved to convict Ms Bibi on blasphemy charges.

Her subsequent appeals and eventual acquittal have provoked heated debate about Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, with rights activists saying they are often used to settle personal scores. Before becoming prime minister, former cricketer Mr Khan campaigned to defend the death sentence for blasphemers – but he also urged public respect for the rule of law amid unrest over Ms Bibi’s case.

Those in Ms Bibi’s family who have not already fled Pakistan have been forced to spend the nearly three months since her acquittal in government protection.

While the government has stressed its ability to protect Ms Bibi and uphold the court’s verdict, she is now expected to join her two daughters in Canada, where they have already been granted asylum.