Islamabad (Staff Report): Aasia Bibi, who was acquitted by the Supreme Court last year in blasphemy case, had left Pakistan and reached Canada, a well-placed Foreign Office (FO) source confirmed on Wednesday.
The British Pakistani Christian Association also said in a statement that they had “received confirmation from a British diplomat that Aasia Bibi had safely exited Pakistan.”
On November last year, FO spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal confirmed that Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi discussed Asia Bibi’s asylum issue with his Canadian counterpart.
Asia Bibi, sometimes known as Asia Noreen, was convicted in 2010 of insulting the Prophet Muhammad during a row with neighbours the previous year.
The mother-of-five was the first female non-Muslim charged under the country's blasphemy laws. The laws carry a potential death sentence for anyone who insults Islam.
Asia Bibi was released from a prison in Multan city of Pakistan after the apex court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove its case against Bibi.
The apex court decision set off a wave of protests across the length and breadth of Pakistan which ended after three-days following an agreement with government.
Asia Bibi's husband has said the family is in danger and has pleaded for asylum from the UK, US or Canada. Her lawyer, Saiful Malook, has been granted temporary asylum in the Netherlands after facing death threats.
