Asia Bibi’s family to seek Spanish asylum
14 Dec 2012 7:34 AM IST
The family of a Pakistani Christian woman sentenced to death under the country's controversial blasphemy law told EFE they plan to ask Spain to offer Asia Bibi asylum and to pressure Islamabad to allow her and her kin to leave. Bibi's husband, Asiq Mashi, is in Madrid with the couple's 19-year-old daughter, Sidra, to accept an award on Asia's behalf. ‘Through international pressure, (Bibi) can be liberated,’ Mashi said, while adding that his wife would no longer be safe in Pakistan even if she leaves jail.
Bibi's plight has inspired a global campaign and figures such as Pope Benedict XVI have urged Pakistan's government to pardon the 47-year-old mother of five. People inside Pakistan have also spoken up for Bibi, including a provincial governor and a Christian government minister who were assassinated by radical Islamists for their stand against the blasphemy law.
Bibi's plight has inspired a global campaign and figures such as Pope Benedict XVI have urged Pakistan's government to pardon the 47-year-old mother of five. People inside Pakistan have also spoken up for Bibi, including a provincial governor and a Christian government minister who were assassinated by radical Islamists for their stand against the blasphemy law.
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