BRATISLAVA / Hovoríme o pakistanskej žene, ktorú doma obviňovali z rúhania sa prorokovi Mohamedovi. Jej príbeh roky ostro sledoval celý svet. Dnes žije v utajení v kanadskom exile. Pakistanka Asia Nóriová, známa ako Asia Bibi, sa počas prác na poli napila z verejnej studne a pohár vody podala svojej moslimskej spolupracovníčke. Ďalšie ženy ju však ako kresťanku napadli s tým, že svojou vierou vodu znečistila.
“Verím vo svoje náboženstvo a v Ježiša Krista, ktorý zomrel na kríži za hriechy ľudstva. Čo urobil na záchranu ľudstva váš prorok Mohamed?,” vyhlásila odsúdená pakistanská kresťanka Asia.
Tento výrok sa okamžite rozšíril po celej krajine. Asia ním na smrť urazila milióny Pakistancov. Keďže tam panujú veľmi prísne moslimské zákony, odsúdili ju na dvojnásobný trest smrti. Popravu dnes už 48 ročnej Pakistanky tamojšie úrady pre dlhý proces odvolania vykonať nestihli. Matka dvoch detí si však v žalári odsedela dlhých 10 rokov.
Príbeh obletel celý svet
Príbeh ženy, ktorú v jej vlastnej krajine chceli popraviť pre jej vieru, okamžite obletel celý svet. Za jej oslobodenie bojovali stovky aktivistov či štátnikov. Po urputnom boji sa jej podarilo dostať na slobodu a s rodinou utiecť. Teraz zverejnila video v ktorom osobne ďakuje Slovákovi. Bývalému ministrovi a eurokomisárovi. “Pomáhal mi dostať sa z väznenia až doteraz. Je to Ján Figeľ z Európskej únie,” uviedla.
Ján Figeľ, ktorému Asia Bibi vrúcne ďakuje za pomoc, dnes pracuje ako osobitný vyslanec Európskej únie pre náboženskú slobodu. Hovorí, že tak ako milióny ľudí vo svete, aj jeho tento príbeh zaujal. Práve preto sa hneď potom, ako sa v Bruseli ujal funkcie, pustil do tohto prípadu. “To mala byť prvá popravená žena za rúhanie. Tak som sa angažoval v príbehu a žiadal o prijatie v Pakistane,” opisuje Figeľ.
To sa však podarilo až po opakovaných pokusoch. Pri vyjednávaní o obchodnej dohode medzi Európskou úniou a Pakistanom, na ktorej Pakistancom veľmi záležalo. Jednou z podmienok dohody však bolo prepustenie Asie. S čím nakoniec aj súhlasili. “Slobodnou sa však nestala, pretože by neprežila ani 24 hodín,” poznamenal Figeľ.
Stala sa nepriateľom extrémistov číslo jeden
Jej prepustenie sprevádzali masové protesty. Asii a jej rodine hrozilo verejné zlynčovanie. Pod dohľadom tamojších úradov preto nakoniec emigrovala do Kanady, kde začína nový život. “Teraz som slobodná žena a ja s mojimi deťmi vyslovujeme poďakovanie svetu, Jánovi Figeľovi a všetkým ľuďom, ktorí mi pomohli,” poďakovala Asia. Ján Figeľ sa s Asiou videl iba prostredníctvom video hovoru. Aj v súčasnosti je s ňou v kontakte.Verí, že sa s ňou stretne aj osobne. Možno už čoskoro. “Chcela, aby sme mali spoločné vianoce. Tie predchádzajúce nevyšli. Možno tie ďalšie budú,” skonštatoval Figeľ.
Budapest, Hungary, Sep 12, 2019 / 12:02 am (CNA).- A European Union official who played a role in working for the release of Pakistani death row inmate Asia Bibi said the outcome shows the potential of international cooperation to promote religious freedom.
Ashiq Mesih and Eisham Ashiq, Asia Bibi’s husband and daughter in Rome April 15, 2015.Credit: Bohumil Petrik/CNA.
Jan Figel is the EU Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion outside of Europe. In an interview with CNA, he praised Bibi as “an admirably brave woman and loving mother. She did not give up her Christian faith [in exchange for freedom], and she represents encouragement for many others facing false blasphemy accusations.”
Asia Bibi, a Catholic mother of five, was convicted of blasphemy in Pakistan in 2009 and sentenced to death by hanging. She was accused of making disparaging remarks about the prophet Muhammad after an argument about a cup of water. She was held on death row until October 2018 when her conviction was overturned.
After the acquittal, there were protests by Islamic hardliners, and Bibi remained in Pakistan under protective custody until May 2019. She is now in a secret location in Canada with her family.
In a new audio message this week, Bibi issued a plea that justice and judgement be treated as serious matters aimed at the pursuit of truth.
“If you want to punish someone, do not do it without listening to him. And do something for all the people in prison for blasphemy: visit them in prison, listen to them, discuss with them,” she said.
According to the U.S. State Department, there are an estimated 77 people in prison in Pakistan under blasphemy laws, most of them Muslims.
Bibi said in her message she is grateful to the international community that worked for her release, and in particular to Figel, whom she described as “an angel who saved me [from] the imprisonment.”
Figel told CNA that the reason Bibi remained under protective custody in Pakistan for nine months was likely because “the Imran Khan government and Pakistani Military used this delay to get the situation in the country under real control.”
He lamented that under the previous government, “relatively small groups took streets hostage, and de facto dictated some decisions to the elected government. Now, leaders of militant groups and violent extremists have been jailed after massive public protests.”
Figel recently launched the academic and political Declaration of Human Dignity for Everyone Everywhere.
He explained to CNA that his involvement in Bibi’s case was intended to shed light on issues of religious freedom, since “Asia Bibi was famous worldwide as an evident abuse of freedom of religion and beliefs.”
Figel said he was able to visit Pakistan only in December 2017, and he made a second visit in 2018.
In meeting with officials, he “spoke about the importance of dignity and justice for all Pakistanis, especially minorities” and stressed that Bibi’s case was being closely watched internationally. He emphasized that the status quo of commercial relations between the EU and Pakistan was insufficient, and he asked the country to comply with international treaties that protect minorities.
Despite all the talks, Figel said that “real progress started only after summer elections in Pakistan with incoming Imran Khan government. It was brave enough to take responsibility into [its own] hands from militant groups who successfully took the State as a hostage under the previous government.”
After the acquittal, Figel spoke “very fairly and very seriously” with Pakistani government officials. He also helped Bibi’s family members apply for asylum in three EU countries and Canada, fearing that they also could become targets of violence.
During this time, Figel was also in contact with Bibi as she was being held in protective custody.
“With long delays due to judicial revision and no certainty on the expected full solution, she needed human and psychological support in some periods,” he said.
In December, Canada formally granted asylum to Bibi and her family. Her daughters were transported immediately. After Bibi and her husband were given passports and permitted to travel, the family was reunited.
Figel hopes Bibi’s story will become a basis for reform of the blasphemy law in Pakistan.
He also said the experience “proves that the EU as a soft-power can facilitate positive changes in the world in the area of justice, sustainable development, and human rights protection through more efficient Freedom of Religion and Belief promotion.”
“Defense of the persecuted, the defenseless or the voiceless is our noble obligation.”
Bratislava 11. septembra (Teraz.sk) – Pakistanská kresťanka Ásíjá Nóríová, mediálne známa ako Asia Bibi, vo svojom prvom živom videu z exilu zverejnenom na portáli The European Post ďakuje ľuďom, ktorí jej pomáhali v čase, keď sedela v cele smrti, a špeciálne slovenskému politikovi Jánovi Figeľovi. „Chcem poďakovať anjelovi, osobe, ktorá mi doteraz pomáhala od môjho uväznenia: týmto človekom je Ján Figeľ, osobitný vyslanec Európskej únie pre náboženskú slobodu. Som mu skutočne vďačná a a želám si, aby Boh mohol poskytnúť viac ľudí ako on,“ povedala podľa portálu Asia Bibi. Asiu Bibi, matku piatich detí, v roku 2010 odsúdili na smrť obesením za údajné rúhačské slová, ktoré mala rok predtým vysloviť počas banálnej hádky s moslimkami. Verdikt bol vynesený na základe kontroverzných pakistanských zákonov o rúhaní. Hádku spustila rozšírená povera, podľa ktorej ak sa kresťan napije z moslimskej studne, znečistí tým vodu. „Nedostatok vzdelanosti, poverčivosť a predsudky sú základom pre neznášanlivosť. Dnes má v Pakistane veľký priestor fundamentalizmus až fanatizmus. Chcem len pripomenúť, že v trinástich štátoch sveta je trest smrti za ateizmus, v 22 štátoch, väčšinou sú to moslimské, je trest smrti za odpadnutie od viery a vyše 70 štátov sveta používa zákony proti rúhaniu. Pakistan je spolu s Mauretániou najvypuklejší príklad,“ povedal v decembri 2018 v TABLET.TV Figeľ, ktorý sa za oslobodenie Asie Bibi angažoval už od roku 2016.
Aj v Pakistane sa však našlo viacero politikov, ktorí neboli s odsúdením ženy na smrť za banálnu hádku spokojní. Jedného z nich, guvernéra Salmána Taseera, však preto zastrelil jeho vlastný ochrankár. Ten bol za vraždu neskôr odsúdený a popravený, množstvo radikálnych moslimov ho však v Pakistane považuje za martýra. A keď pakistanský najvyšší súd Asiu Bibi spod trestu smrti napokon v roku 2018 oslobodil, v Pakistane vypukli masové nepokoje, ktoré požadovali jej obesenie. Vyhrážkam radikálov sa nevyhol ani Figeľ, keďže radikáli považovali za dôvod zmeny názoru súdov aj nátlak Európskej únie. „Ľudia si oveľa viac vážia účinnú pomoc vtedy, ak ju dostanú v čase, keď ju súrne potrebujú, než ak k nim príde až po vyriešení problému alebo dokonca len formou verbálneho povzbudenia,“ poznamenal v tejto súvislosti Figeľ v TABLET.TV. Odvolanie voči oslobodzujúcemu verdiktu pakistanského najvyššieho súdu bolo definitívne zamietnuté v januári 2019. Na aktuálnom videu, ktoré bolo nakrútené začiatkom septembra, Asia Bibi hovorí, že necíti nenávisť, trvá však na tom, že neurobila nič zlé. Vyzýva ľudí, aby si nerobili mienku o druhých bez toho, aby si vypočuli ich názor či vysvetlenie. Apeluje tiež na celý svet, aby nenechával ľudí odsúdených za rúhanie vo väzeniach bez pomoci. European Post udáva, že z bezpečnostných dôvodov nie je na videu vidieť tvár ženy a nie je špecifikované ani to, kde sa aktuálne nachádza.
E Jan Figel, inviato speciale dell’Unione Europea per la libertà religiosa, spiega ad ACI Stampa le tappe che la hanno portata in Canada
BUDAPEST, 11 settembre, 2019 / 6:00 PM (ACI Stampa).
Dal luogo in Canada dove è con la sua famiglia a seguito dell’assoluzione dalla condanna a morte per blasfemia, Asia Bibi invia un audio messaggio al mondo, sottolinea di non aver perso la fede, chiede di ascoltare con cura qualunque accusato prima di condannarlo e mostra preoccupazione per quanti sono ancora in prigione condannati per blasfemia in Pakistan.
La donna, madre di cinque figli e al centro di una grande mobilitazione internazionale, era stata condannata a morte per blasfemia nel 2010 in Pakistan, dopo una disputa con delle donne musulmane per via di un bicchiere di acqua. La condanna era stata confermata nel 2014, ma lo scorso anno la Corte Suprema del Pakistana aveva cancellato la condanna. Per otto mesi, Asia Bibi è rimasta con il marito in una località segreta del Punjab per otto mesi, in attesa della revisione della sentenza, e poi si è potuta rifugiare in Canada.
Nel video, Asia Bibi sottolinea di credere in Gesù e attribuisce la sua libertà a Gesù. “Non ho mai indebolito il mio credo. Voglio chiarire questo, che non ho fatto niente di sbagliato. Chiedo a tutto il mondo di pensare prima di prendere una decisione sbagliata. Ascoltate, prima, poi decidete”.
Asia Bibi chiede anche di pensare alle persone “nel braccio della morte per blasfemia”, di pensare loro “in maniera positiva e di essere positivi nei loro confronti”, di andarli a visitare ed ascoltarli. E poi aggiunge: “Questo è il mio messaggio, è la mia passione, è la mia richiesta al mondo. Per favore, in nome di Dio, non accusate nessuno ingiustamente”.
Infine, chiede che “tutti i popoli da tutte le religioni devono vivere insieme in pace, sicurezza e fratellanza”.
In particolare, Asia Bibi ringrazia Jan Figel, inviato speciale dell’Unione Europea per la libertà religiosa fuori dell’Europa.
Parlando con ACI Stampa, Jan Figel ha sottolineato che la ragione per cui Asia Bibi è dovuta rimanere in Pakistan otto mesi prima di poter essere messa al sicuro è dovuta al fatto che “il governo di Imran Khan e le forze militari in Pakistan hanno usato questo ritardo per portare la situazione nella nazione sotto vero controllo”.
Figel ha anche detto che “sotto il precedente governo di Sharif, i mullah con relativamente piccoli gruppi di seguaci potevano prendere le strade in ostaggio, e de facto hanno dettato alcune decisioni al governo eletto. Ora, i leader dei gruppi militanti e gli estremisti violenti sono stati messi in carcere dopo le pubbliche proteste”.
Figel ha lanciato la Dichiarazione per la Dignità Umana per Tutti e in Ogni Luogo, firmata da accademici e politici. Figel è stato coinvolto nel caso Asia Bibi anche per mettere in luce i temi della libertà religiosa, considerando che il caso della donna pakistana è diventato famoso in tutto il mondo perché si è trattato di un evidente “abuso della libertà di religione”.
Figel ha potuto andare in Pakistan la prima volta nel dicembre 2017, dopo un anno di lavoro, e ha fatto una seconda visita nel 2018. Figel ha sottolineato che “nei miei dialoghi, a tutti i livelli, ho parlato dell’importanza della dignità e della giustizia per tutti gli abitanti del Pakistan, specialmente le minoranze. Ho parlato instancabilmente con i miei interlocutori di alto livello dell’importanza che ci siano chiari segni che le autorità pakistane si stanno muovendo verso uno Stato di diritto e una giustizia per tutti. La giustizia in ritardo è una giustizia negata”.
Durante i suoi incontri, Figel ha anche messo in luce come il caso di Asia Bibi fosse sotto osservazione da parte di tutta la comunità internazionale. Il Pakistan si sentiva protetto da una serie di rapporti commerciali con l’Unione Europea, ma Figel ha sottolineato che “lo status quo” non è abbastanza, e che il Pakistan avrebbe dovuto anche rispettare i trattati internazionali che proteggono le minoranze.
Nonostante tutti questi colloqui, Figel ha notato che “ci sono stati reali progressi solo dopo le elezioni d’estate in Pakistan e con l’arrivo del governo di Irman Khan. Il governo è stato tanto coraggioso da togliere la responsabilità dalle mani dei gruppi militanti che, durante il precedente governo avevano tenuto in ostaggio la nazione”.
Dopo la decisione della Corte Suprema di rilasciare Asia Bibi, il ruolo di Figel è stato indirettamente messo in luce da una dichiarazione del novembre del 2018 da parte del network islamico militante Pakistano. La dichiarazione attaccava il governo di Imran Khan e gli alleati che stavano liberando Asia Bibi, e tra questi includevano Figel come alleato di questo governo.
L’inviato speciale dell’Unione Europea ha detto di aver “realizzato a quel punto che sarei potuto diventare un obiettivo dell’estremismo violento. In fondo, hanno ucciso i difensori di Asia Bibi (come il ministro federale Shabbaz Bhatti, il governatore del Punjab Salman Taseer) e hanno molti seguaci all’estero”.
Dopo il rilascio di Asia Bibi, non ha potuto visitare il Pakistan, ma ha potuto tenersi in contatto con Asia Bibi in maniera regolare, mentre lei era in custodia in un posto segreto in Punjab. “Abbiamo avuto anche frequenti scambi video ed audio grazie a un mio collaboratore in Punjab che è stato molto coraggioso. Asia Bibi è stata grata per la sentenza positiva e il fatto che i bambini fossero sicuri all’estero. Ma con i lunghi ritardi dovuti alla revisione giuridica della sentenza e nessuna certezza su come tutto si sarebbe evoluto, aveva bisogno di supporto umano e psicologico in alcuni periodi”.
Dopo la sentenza positiva della Corte Suprema, era chiaro che la famiglia dovesse lasciare il Paese, e così sono cominciati i lavori per garantire alla famiglia assistenza umanitaria di emergenza in diverse nazioni. Si parlava di tre diverse nazioni europee e del Canada, e il Canada a dicembre ha confermato formalmente che avrebbe garantito asilo con una dichiarazione del Primo Ministro Justin Trudeau a Parigi, durate il centesimo anniversario della Prima Guerra Mondiale.
Così, “con l’aiuto di un’altra nazione, le figlie di Asia Bibi e la famiglia che si prendeva cura di loro sono state portate da Lahore a un posto sicuro in Canada, l’unica nazione che era pronta ad accoglierlo”.
I negoziati sono stati supportati dalla Santa Sede, e un segnale incoraggiante è venuto dalla decisione di Papa Francesco di creare cardinale l’arcivescovo di Karachi Joseph Coutts nel 2018.
Quando Asia e suo marito Ashiq hanno avuto il passaporto e il permesso di viaggiare, “il Canada era l’unica destinazione logica dove la famiglia si sarebbe riunita. Questo è stato un tema decisivo. Altri governi hanno offerto assistenza, ma il Canada era la soluzione più semplice”.
Figel ha aggiunto che “Asia Bibi è una donna mirabilmente coraggiosa e una madre attenta. Non ha mai abbandonato la sua fede cristiana, e se si fosse convertita avrebbe avuto la libertà immediata. Ha rappresentato un incoraggiamento per molti altri che affrontano accuse di blasfemia”.
La sua figura può essere alla base di un movimento di riforma in Pakistan che tocca anche la legge sulla blasfemia. Non solo. Per Figel, tutto questo prova che l’Unione Europea è un “soft power che può facilitare positivi cambiamenti nel mondo su giustizia, sviluppo sostenibile, protezione dei diritti umani, attraverso una più efficiente promozione della Libertà Religiosa”.
“I want to thank an angel, a person who helped me from my imprisonment until now: that person is Jan Figel, the EU’s special envoy for Religious Freedom,” says Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian woman who spent eight years on death row after being accused of blasphemy, in her first live message from her exile in Canada. “I am really grateful and thankful to him and I wish that God may provide more people like him,” she continued.
In her message, recorded without showing her face for security reasons, Asia Bibi shows no hate, rather she is full of forgiveness and solidarity with all the victims in Pakistan.
Video was recorded by Asia Bibi early September 2019. Translation from Urdu by Pakistani human right activist Mr. Muhammad Aman Ulla
Asia Bibi decided to thank EU’s Jan Figel as a key person who negotiated her liberation. The Christian woman was convicted in 2010 after being falsely accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad in a row with her neighbours. She spent eight years on death row before last October, when Pakistan’s supreme court overturned her conviction, triggering violent protests throughout the nation and calls for the judges in the case to be killed. In that situation, Bibi was released but put in a legal limbo while waiting for the negotiations to find a country that could grant her asylum.
The importance of Mr. Figel’s role was indirectly signalled by very harsh statement of the militant Pakistani islamist network against Pakistan Government “caving in to European Union”, published in early November 2018 in immediate reaction to the verdict of acquittal. Islamist groups have regularly called for Asia Bibi to be executed and activists say she would not have been safe had she stayed in Pakistan.
“I realised how I may become a target of violent extremists…They killed Asia Bibi’s defenders in the past, they have many followers abroad as well,” Figel told The European Post.
Figel has met Pakistani governmental officials and politicians both in Brussels and in Pakistan to secure Bibi’s liberation and safety since 2016. When the situation became unbearable, the EU’s representative linked the human rights conditions in Pakistan to the GSP+ trade agreement between the European Union and Pakistan: “The status quo is not enough! The country has to move forward with the implementation of important international treaties and commitments. We, the EU, support democratic reforms and equal, inclusive citizenship for all people in Pakistan, including minorities of Christians, Ahmadis, Hindus, Sikhs and others,” he said.
Three EU Member States and Canada offered their territory as a safe place to her. Notably, the U.K. was not on the list because of concerns of unrest and turmoil in the country. In December last year Canada formally confirmed its willingness to grant asylum, Prime Minister Trudeau announced publicly in Paris when he took part of the Peace Centennial anniversary of WWI. With the help of another country, Asia Bibi and her daughters have been relocated from Lahore to a safe place in Canada where they are now all living together.
Tras pasar 9 años en el corredor de la muerte por una acusación falsa de blasfemia, Asia Bibi es entrevistada por un diario británico. Asia cuenta los años terribles de prisión y como se logró su liberación, así como los planes de futuro que tiene.
La mujer cristiana pakistaní que estuvo 9 años en el corredor de la muerte de Pakistán, por una falsa acusación de blasfemia, y que ahora vive como refugiada en Canadá, ha sido entrevistada por el Sunday Telegraph, y en la entrevista ha comentado sus planes de ir a Europa y ha pedido justicia para todos aquellos que sufren la ley draconiana que la mantuvo en la cárcel.
Han pasado 4 meses desde que Asia Bibi dejase Pakistán. Lo hizo en circunstancias terribles, debido a la persecución de los musulmanes radicales. Pese a que el Tribunal Supremo de Pakistán no había encontrado pruebas de blasfemia, y la había exonerado, los grupos radicales seguían empeñados en quererla linchar, por lo que tras el juicio, tuvo que permanecer escondida varios meses.
El primer pensamiento de la mujer en la entrevista es para su país, Pakistán, porque se le rompió el corazón al tener que dejar la tierra de sus padres, su tierra, por las amenazas de las integristas. Cuando por fin se confirmó su liberación, la preocupación por su seguridad primó y “no pude ni despedirme de mi padre en mi aldea. Pakistán es mi país y lo amo”, dijo Asia Bibi.
La dureza de esas condiciones hundió a Asia Bibi en una depresión y tuvo que ser tratada de problemas de corazón.
Jan Figel, Enviado Especial de la Unión Europea para la Libertad Religiosa -que fue uno de los que posibilitó la libertad de Asia- ha dicho que “Asia es una mujer valiente y una madre amante”, que se ha negado a renunciar a su fe cristiana a cambio de una liberación inmediata. La propia Asia comentaba en la entrevista que está esperando mudarse a Europa “en los próximos meses”.
Pero Asia Bibi no se olvida tampoco de quienes siguen en el corredor de la muerte por las mismas acusaciones, y a los que el mundo ha prestado la misma atención. Es Departamento de Estado Estadounidense calcula que hay por lo menos 77 personas en Pakistán acusadas de Blasfemia.
“Pido al mundo entero que pongan atención a este problema. La manera en la que alguien puede ser acusado de blasfemia, sin una investigación adecuada, debería darse a conocer. Esta ley de Blasfemia debería ser revisada y se deberían dar sistemas de investigación adecuados cuando se aplique esta ley. No debermos considerar a alguien culpable sin pruebas”, ha defendido Asia Bibi, que agradeció al Tribunal Supremo de Pakistán por exonerarla pero recordó que otros necesitan también juicios justos “Hay muchos otros casos en los que los acusados están en la cárcel durantes años y también se les debe escuchar.”, ha sentenciado Asia Bibi.
As Asia Bibi sits free at last in a secret location in Canada, the Pakistani Christian woman who spent years on death row after a false blasphemy charge thinks of those left behind still facing the same ordeal.
Nearly four months after the 54-year-old finally left Pakistan following a miscarriage of justice that caused worldwide outcry, she has the opportunity to rebuild a new life for her and her daughters.
Yet while she is enthusiastically grateful for the international efforts to free her, she says the world should know that Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws have left many others still behind bars.
In her first ever newspaper interview, she told The Sunday Telegraph she had at times fallen into despair after being sentenced to death in a case condemned around the world.
She also spoke of her heartbreak at being forced to leave her homeland, amid fears she would be murdered by religious extremists even after Pakistan’s supreme court had quashed her flimsy conviction.
The daughters of Asia Bibi pose with an image of their mother while standing outside their residence in Sheikhupura Pakistan CREDIT: ADREES LATIF/ REUTERS
Her freedom was finally secured with mediation from a European Union special envoy, Jan Figel, a Slovak politican who has now for the first time spoken about negotiations to secure Mrs Bibi’s release as she was held in protective custody for months even after her release from prison.
While she is currently in Canada, she is hoping to move to an undisclosed country in Europe in the coming months.
Mrs Bibi, also known as Asya Noureen, said her wrongful conviction after she was accused of insulting the Prophet Mohammad in a row with fellow farmhands had devastated her life.
“My whole life suffered, my children suffered and this had a huge impact on my life,” she said in a series of voice messages sent in response to questions from the Telegraph.
Mrs Bibi thanked the supreme court for acquitting her, but said others also needed fair trials.
“There are many other cases where the accused are lying in jail for years and their decision should also be done on merit. The world should listen to them.”
“I request the whole world to pay attention to this issue. The way any person is alleged of blasphemy without any proper investigation without any proper proof, that should be noticed. This blasphemy law should be reviewed and there should be proper investigation mechanisms while applying this law. We should not consider anyone sinful for this act without any proof.”
Mrs Bibi thanked the supreme court for acquitting her, but said others also needed fair trials
The US State Department says an estimated 77 others are in prison in Pakistan under blasphemy laws, most of them Muslims, with lawyers and rights groups saying false accusations are made to settle scores, or silence rivals. The charge can carry the death penalty, but is so incendiary that cases can also end in mob lynching. Pakistan has never executed anyone specifically for blasphemy, but trials and appeals can drag on for years because judges are afraid of extremist threats.
“Sometimes I was so disappointed and losing courage I used to wonder whether I was coming out of jail or not, what would happen next, whether I would remain here all my life,” Mrs Bibi said.
“When my daughters visited me in jail, I never cried in front of them, but when they went after meeting me in jail, I used to cry alone filled with pain and grief. I used to think about them all the time, how they are living.”
Mrs Bibi was first convicted of blasphemy after she quarrelled with two Muslim women while they picked falsa berries for a landowner in rural Punjab in 2009. Her accusers claimed she insulted the Prophet Mohammed in an argument because the women would not drink from a container she had touched. The accusation was taken up by the village mullah and she was taken to court and sentenced to death in 2010. But Mrs Bibi said she had been made to confess at the hands of a village mob who nearly beat her unconscious. She denied she had ever committed blasphemy.
She spent eight years on death row, constantly fearing for her life, before the case was quashed in the supreme court last October. However she was kept in custody for a further seven months as Imran Khan’s government wrestled with how to free her without angering influential hardline Islamist groups who had paralysed the country in protest at her acquittal.
A Pakistani supporter of a hardline religious party holds an image of Asia Bibi during a protest rally following the Supreme Court’s decision to acquit her of blasphemy CREDIT: AAMIR QURESHI/ AFP
Mr Figel, the EU special envoy on religious freedom since 2016, said: “I think Imran Khan’s government and Pakistan’s military used this delay to get the situation in the country under real control.”
He held talks in Brussels with Pakistan’s attorney general, Anwar Khan and Human Rights minister, Shireen Mazari, on how to free her.
As the months dragged on, Mrs Bibi and her husband Ashiq Masih were kept in government safe houses first in the hills outside the capital Islamabad and then in the port city of Karachi. While given a television and a smartphone, they were unable to go outside.
The strain saw Mrs Bibi fall into depression and be treated for heart problems. Throughout this time she was in daily contact with Muhammad Amanullah, a human rights activist who had previously helped five other people accused of blasphemy. Mr Amanullah acted as her direct liaison with the EU.
He said: “[Pakistan’s government] always told us it will be two weeks, or 10 days, two weeks, 10 days and like this we spent seven months.”
He went on: “At one point she had lost her hope and one day she told me, if I am assassinated, or anything happens to me please do not forget my daughters.”
Early candidates for asylum included France and Belgium, but as time went on, Mrs Bibi’s daughters were granted temporary refuge in Canada. Mrs Bibi had wanted to go to Europe, but arrangements were made for her to follow them and she finally left Pakistan in May. Mrs Bibi and Mr Figel both rejected earlier reports she had ever wanted to go to the UK. She said she had never contacted the UK or asked to go there. The whole family is later expected to move to an undisclosed European country. “Security conditions are crucially important for Asia Bibi and for her family,” said Mr Figel.
Asia Bibi is seen in an undated photo handed out by family members in Punjab province CREDIT: REUTERS
When her freedom finally arrived, security concerns meant Asia Bibi was unable to say goodbye to her father or her home town. “My heart was broken when I left that way without meeting my family. Pakistan is my country, Pakistan is my homeland, I love my country, I love my soil,” she said.
Mr Amanullah has also left the country after being declared an apostate because of his work with those accused of blasphemy.
Mr Figel said Asia Bibi was “an admirably brave woman and loving mother” who had refused to give up her Christian faith in exchange for immediate freedom.
“Her story and the highly professional supreme court decision can serve as a base for reforms in Pakistan, which has very outdated system of blasphemy legislation easily misused against neighbours and innocent people.”
Bratislava 15. mája (TABLET.TV) – Otázka náboženskej slobody je otázkou života a smrti. V súvislosti s prepustením pakistanskej kresťanky známej pod menom Ásijá bíbí to pre TABLET.TV uviedol Ján Figeľ, osobitný vyslanec Európskej únie pre slobody náboženstva alebo viery vo svete.
Ásiju bíbí, matku piatich detí, pôvodne v roku 2010 odsúdili na smrť obesením za údajné rúhačské slová, ktoré mala rok predtým vysloviť počas hádky s moslimkami. Verdikt bol vynesený na základe kontroverzných pakistanských zákonov o rúhaní. “Ásijá bíbí je jednoduchá roľníčka. Žena, ktorá pracovala na roli s islamskými ženami. Napila sa tam vody, z ktorej sa podľa všetkého napiť nemala. Dostala sa do sporu a v tom spore sa mala vyjadriť, že za ňu Ježiš Kristus zomrel. Žien sa opýtala, čo pre ne urobil prorok Mohamed. Táto otázka bola považovaná za urážku. Následne bola táto žena obvinená, neskôr zatknutá a v roku 2010 odsúdená na trest smrti. Aj keď sa usilovala o odvolanie, tento stav trval deväť rokov,” priblížil a pripomenul sled udalostí v tomto prípade Figeľ.
V októbri 2018 Ásiju bíbí pakistanský najvyšší súd oslobodil, čo rozhorčilo miestnych zástancov radikálneho islamu. Odvolanie voči oslobodzujúcemu verdiktu bolo definitívne zamietnuté v januári 2019. Ako uviedol Figeľ, Ásijá bíbí pristála minulý týždeň v Kanade, kde sa po deviatich rokoch stretla so svojou rodinou. “Najviac pripravená bola práve Kanada, ktorej premiér sa aj pri výročí 1. svetovej vojny vyjadril, že Kanada je pripravená poskytnúť azyl a pohostinnosť tejto osobe,” odôvodnil Figeľ, prečo jej azyl poskytla práve Kanada. “V prvej fáze sa v decembri podarilo dostať z krajiny najskôr jej dcéry. Tie neboli chránené a žili v nebezpečnom prostredí. Keď sa dcéry podarilo dostať do Kanady, neskôr sa tam podarilo dostať aj Ásiju bíbí spolu s jej manželom,” pokračoval Figeľ. Podľa jeho slov táto komunikácia slúžila predovšetkým na to, aby Ásiju bíbí ubezpečili, že nie je zabudnutá a že skutočnosť, že sa ocitla oslobodená v novej situácii, nie je prázdny stav. “Bála sa hlavne o deti a hlavne o to, že ju bez jasnej perspektívy môžu kdekoľvek a ktokoľvek zlikvidovať,” doplnil Figeľ. Figeľ pre TABLET.TV ocenil prístup Kanady. “Som Kanaďanom vďačný, že urobili skutky a majú také postoje, ktoré môžu byť príkladom aj pre iné krajiny. Som presvedčený, že nateraz je to dobré tak, ako to je. Je veľmi dôležité, že Ásijá bíbí je zachránená a že je so svojou rodinou,”skonštatoval v tejto súvislosti. Podľa Figela môže byť tento prípad inšpirujúci v tom zmysle, že sa ukazuje, že Európska únia môže aj vo veľkom svete a aj v konfliktných teritóriách plniť konštruktívnu a život zachraňujúcu úlohu. “Táto téma potvrdzuje, že otázka náboženskej slobody je otázkou života a smrti,” uzavrel. Pozrite si reláciu SVET s Pavlom Demešom a jeho hosťom.
