*ISLAMABAD – Saif-ul-Mulook, Aasia Bibi’s lawyer who left Pakistan onSaturday, said that the United Nations and European Union made him leavethe country “against [his] wishes” because his life was at risk.*
Saif-ul-Malook, who has fled to the Netherlands, said he contacted a UNofficial in Islamabad after the protests erupted following the SupremeCourt’s acquittal of Aasia Bibi on October 31.
“And then they (the UN) and the European nation ambassadors in Islamabad,they kept me for three days and then put me on a plane against my wishes,”the lawyer told a press conference in The Hague.
“They were of the view that I was the prime target to be killed, and thatmy life was in imminent danger.”
Before leaving the country, the lawyer also criticized the government forits failure to implement the court’s decision.
“This compromise is nothing but a piece of paper that can be thrown in thedustbin,” he said.
“What’s painful is the response of the government. They cannot evenimplement an order of the country’s highest court,” Mulook said, addingthat “the struggle for justice must continue”.
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According to the agreement, which came after a failed first round of talks,legal proceedings will follow to impose a travel ban on Aasia Bibi and stopher leaving 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 lawyer said a UN official in Pakistan told him “we are taking care ofher” but that “when I said which country, they said we can’t say”.
“I asked the French ambassador ‘would your country be willing to offerasylum to Asia Bibi. He said if you request us legally, I said ‘OK Irequest her’.” – APP/AFP
