he woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, while her trial is before the Supreme Court, sends a message from prison and calls for continued prayer.
“I cannot wait to feel the sun and the cold again, to see the open sky, the stars and the moon. Please continue to pray for my release from this darkness, so I can be with you in the sunlight.” Dreamy, mournful but full of hope, this is the latest message from Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman sentenced to death and jailed for six years on false charges of blasphemy towards the Prophet Muhammad.
While the case that implicates her has reached a third degree trial before the Supreme Court, which at the first hearing agreed to sustain the appeal and suspended the upholding of the death penalty, the fifty year old mother of five sent - via her family and Joseph Nadeem, guardian of Asia’s family - a message to people who are helping.
Spread through the CitizenGO network, Asia’s message expresses gratitude to those people all over the world, Christian or not, who have taken her case to heart and promoted an international mobilization to try to save her.
Asia says, emotionally: “I have no words to express my gratitude: I know that you are neighbors in this difficult matter in which, for six years now, I have been involved. I know that organizations like Maslibres, CitizenGo and many others are praying, they are giving their support and doing everything possible to ensure I come out unscathed from this situation where I was unjustly accused. Almighty God is ready to answer your prayers and all the efforts you are continuing to make for me and for my family.”
“I am very grateful to you for having shared my story with and for the international mobilization that you initiated. I'm innocent” - she insists, and has insisted repeatedly, since the first day of the arrest - “and I have not committed any crime.” Her thoughts turn to her family: “I never would have imagined that my family would have to deal with such a terrible event, especially my daughters Esha and Eisham, who were then very small.”
The fears give way to a glimmer of hope that is not only human, but also rooted in the help and the constant presence of God, nourished by deep faith and prayer: “I have no words, I can only communicate to you my hope to be able to embrace you soon and to thank you upon my release. I will soon be back among you, by the grace of the Lord. I cannot wait to feel the sun and the cold again, to see the open sky, the stars and the moon. Please continue to pray for my release from this darkness, so I can be with you in the sunlight.”
Of course, her case is far from solved. The Muslim lawyer Saiful Malook, the legal expert assisting Asia in the proceedings before the Court, is moving forward with extreme caution, not without fear for his own safety: he knowingly chose to take on the defense of a Christian woman already assumed to be “blasphemous” regardless of whether a court recognizes her innocence, and who is therefore targeted by Islamic extremists who still want to see her dead.
And if it is true that, so far, the Supreme Court has not experienced fundamentalist pressure - as is the case in Pakistan for judges in first and second degree - it is also true that this is the first blasphemy case that has come to the attention of the Pakistani supreme judicial body and, given the symbolic value that it has taken on over the years, a positive outcome is not a foregone conclusion: anything is still possible.
But even after a potential acquittal, Asia Bibi would still need to leave Pakistan, since she would be the certain victim of an extrajudicial execution. This is why organizations like CitizenGo and other agencies that protect Christians have initiated necessary operations for the safety of Asia Bibi in the event of her release, as well as her eventual relocation to Europe: in first place, among the possible destinations for Asia and her family, are nations such as Spain and France.
