ISLAMABAD – United Nations on Tuesday denied that it had forced thePakistani lawyer of a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy to leave thecountry.
Saif-ul-Malook fled to the Netherlands from Pakistan after violence eruptedover the Pakistani Supreme Court´s decision to overturn the conviction ofAsia Bibi who was on death row.
“The UN in Pakistan extended its assistance to Mr. Malook at his requestand did not force him to leave the country against his wishes, nor can theUN force someone to leave Pakistan against his or her will,” said UNspokesperson Eri Kaneko.
At a news conference in The Hague on Monday, the lawyer said he was “put ona plane against my wishes” even though he had refused to leave the countrywithout ensuring that his client was out of prison.
Malook said he contacted a UN official in Islamabad after the outbreak ofclashes.
“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,”he said.
Asia Bibi spent nearly a decade on death row after being accused ofblasphemy following a dispute with fellow villagers over drinking from thesame bowl of water. The charge is an inflammatory one in Muslim-majorityPakistan.
But she remains in Pakistan after Prime Minister Imran Khan struck a dealwith the right-wing religious political group behind the protests to barher from leaving until a final court appeal is heard.
The lawyer had previously told AFP before his departure on Saturday that hewas leaving because “in the current scenario, it´s not possible for me tolive in Pakistan”. APP/AFP