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Asia Bibi Will Appeal Death Sentence, Lawyer Confirms

Russ Jones

Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian mother who has been sentenced to hang for her Christian faith, will appeal her case to the Supreme Court. 

 

A source that could not be named told Christian Today that it is "highly unlikely" that Bibi's sentence, which was upheld in the Lahore high court on October 16, will be carried out.

 

"She is the first Christian woman to ever be handed the death sentence, and Pakistan haven't carried out any executions in six years," the source, who could not be named for security reasons, added.

 

The mother of five has been on death row awaiting appeal since the Session’s Court in District Nankana, Pujab, announced her conviction and death sentence in October 2010.

 

Christian Today also reports that two associates affiliated with Bibi’s defense have been assassinated. 

 

According to International Christian Concern the blasphemy accusation against Mrs. Bibi originates from a dispute that took place in June 2009 between Bibi and a group of Muslim women with whom she had been harvesting berries in Sheikhupura. The Muslim women became angry with Bibi when she, a Christian whom they considered unclean, drank water from the same water bowl as the Muslims. An argument between Mrs. Bibi and the Muslim women ensued and later the Muslim women reported to a local cleric that Bibi had blasphemed against Islam.

 

 

Publication date: October 23, 2014