EU Parliament commits to “facilitate the release of Asia Bibi” 

Pakistan must respect human rights and guarantee the safety of Asia Bibi’s family, the President of the European Parliament (EP) said in a letter sent to the husband of the Christian woman. “
 

The European Parliament is extremely concerned for your safety as well as your family’s, due to the violence by extremist elements in Pakistan”, Antonio Tajani wrote in a letter he later shared on Twitter. The EP President invites Ashiq Masih to “Brussels or Strasbourg for a meeting about how I can concretely facilitate the release of your wife, Asia Bibi”. The European Union has asked the Pakistani government to “guarantee your safety and of those protecting you”, the letter says.
 

 

Tajani uses the letter to Asia Bibi’s husband to insist that the “Pakistani authorities have to uphold the rule of the law and their international Human Rights commitments”. The head of the European chamber also says he will “personally contact the relevant Pakistani authorities to ask them to provide you and your family with the necessary travel documents”.
 

 

Bibi (nee Aasiya Noreen) was convicted in 2010 of making derogatory remarks about Islam during an argument with her neighbours, and had been on death row since then. She denied committing blasphemy.

 

Last week, the Supreme Court had acquitted Asia Bibi of blasphemy charges, and her death penalty was reversed.
Various petitions for her release were created by organisations aiding persecuted Christians such as Voice of the Martyrs, including one that received 400,000 signatures, and Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis called for the charges to be dismissed.

 

Minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti and Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer were both assassinated for advocating on her behalf and opposing the blasphemy laws.

 

The court’s decision on Wednesday to overturn the verdict led to violent protests throughout mainly Muslim Pakistan by angry mobs calling for the judges in the case to be killed.

 

Islamists have shut down major cities in Pakistan through days of demonstrations against Bibi’s acquittal. They have said they will escalate the protests if she were permitted to leave the country. The government has indicated it will bar her from traveling abroad.

 

Last week, hours before the Supreme Court’s decision to absolve Asia Bibi was announced, Tajani said the Christian woman was “in prison only because she is Christian”. He also used the plenary session of the European Parliament to call Pakistan to respect the woman’s fundamental rights.  

 

Asia Bibi has been placed on Exit Control List that bans her from leaving Pakistan. After riots and violent protests throughout the country, the government reached an agreement with extremist Muslim clerics which includes the possibility of reviewing the case.