A Christian woman has been sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of persecution in Pakistan. In an interview with French radio station RTL on Monday, Asia Bibi expressed her desire to seek refuge in France. French President Emmanuel Macron’s office has said it is willing to offer asylum in France to Asia and its families if desired.
After being found innocent and threatened with death by Islamic extremists, Asia now lives with her family in Canada. Meanwhile, government sources said Asia Bibi will meet with Emmanuel Macron on Friday. Asia Bibi was honored with the ‘A Citizen of Honor of the City of Paris’ on Tuesday.
Asia Bibi was jailed on charges of blasphemy following his personal feud with Muslim women. The Supreme Court acquitted Asia Bibi last year after international criticism of its 2010 death sentence. This is followed by mass violence in the country. Islamists took to the streets demanding to kill Asia.
Bibi’s case exposed the brutality of Pakistan’s blasphemy law to the world. Under the Shariah law, anyone found guilty of blasphemy gets the death penalty. There has been a lot of international media coverage of Pakistan’s tendency to substitute blasphemy against Christians, even on personal issues, using the blasphemy law.
