ISLAMABAD – The Pakistani lawyer who saved a Christian woman convicted ofblasphemy from the gallows left the country on Saturday, saying his lifewas under threat.
Saif-ul-Mulook’s latest victory saw the freeing of Asia Bibi, who spentnearly a decade on death row, after the Supreme Court overturned hersentence on Wednesday.
The decision sparked protests across the country, with major roads blockedin Lahore and Islamabad as religious hardliners called for the death of thejudges and those who helped acquit Bibi.
“In the current scenario, it’s not possible for me to live in Pakistan,”the 62-year-old told AFP before boarding a plane to Europe early Saturdaymorning.
“I need to stay alive as I still have to fight the legal battle for AsiaBibi,” he said.
Blasphemy is a massively inflammatory charge in Muslim-majority Pakistan,where even unproven allegations of insulting Islam and its Prophet Mohammedcan provoke death at the hands of vigilantes.
On Friday night, the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan party (TLP), which haslargely led the demonstrations, announced an end to mass protests afterreaching a deal with the government.
A five-point agreement seen by AFP, signed by both parties, said thegovernment would not object to an appeal of the verdict, filed earlier inthe Supreme Court.
When asked about the Islamist outcry, Mulook said it was “unfortunate butnot unexpected”.
“What’s painful is the response of the government. They cannot evenimplement an order of the country’s highest court,” he said, adding that“the struggle for justice must continue”.
According to the agreement, which came after a failed first round of talks,legal proceedings will follow to impose a travel ban on Bibi and stop herleaving the country.
“Her life would be more or less the same, either inside a prison or insolitary confinement for security fears” until a decision on the appeal,said Mulook.
The deal was criticised by local media and the country’s oldest newspaperDawn called it “another surrender” in an editorial on Saturday.
“Yet another government has capitulated to violent religious extremists whoneither believe in democracy, nor the constitution,” it read.
The TLP, founded in 2015, blockaded the capital Islamabad for several weekslast year calling for stricter enforcement of Pakistan’s controversialblasphemy laws.
That protest forced the resignation of the federal law minister and pavedthe way for the group to poll more than 2.23 million votes in the July 25general election, in what analysts called a “surprisingly” rapid rise. -APP/AFP