KATHMANDU: Pakistani Christian woman Asia Bibi, who spent several years on death row following a 2010 conviction of blasphemy, has said she is seeking political asylum in France.
Bibi, 49, said in an interview with France’s RTL radio on February 24 that her “great desire was to live in France.”
Bibi was sentenced to death by a court in the central province of Punjab in 2010 for allegedly committing blasphemy in a dispute with Muslim women while working on a farm.
Last month, Bibi released a memoir in which she recounts the nightmare conditions she was subjected to in prison until her release in 2018, amid an international outcry over her case.
She was only able to depart Pakistan for Canada in May 2019 after being kept in protective custody out of security concerns.
Islamic extremists have threatened to kill her and also topple the government following Bibi’s acquittal.
Bibi’s case brought international attention to Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law, which carries an automatic death penalty.
It is noted that Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, was killed in 2011 for defending Bibi and criticizing the misuse of the blasphemy law.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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