In an interview with DW, Fawad Chaudhry, Pakistan's information minister, said that if legal requirements are met, Asia Bibi could be banned from exiting Pakistan. Islamists demand that the Christian woman be executed.
Following Bibi's acquittal, the hard-line Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP) party took to the streets and forced the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to strike a deal to end the protest.
According to the deal, the government will not block a review petition for the acquittal and will take measures to ban Bibi from traveling abroad.
Bibi was arrested in June 2009, after her neighbors complained that she had made derogatory remarks about Islam's Prophet Muhammad. A year later, Bibi was sentenced to death under the country's blasphemy laws despite strong opposition from national and international human rights groups.
After a hearing on October 8 of this year, Pakistan's Supreme Court reversed two lower court verdicts against Bibi in what was her final appeal against the 2010 death sentence.
In 2014, the death sentence had been upheld by the Lahore High Court. Rights group Amnesty International dubbed the verdict a "grave injustice."
In 2015, Bibi's lawyers filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the death penalty.
Pakistan's information minister Fawad Chaudhry (L) with PM Imran Khan Image: AFP/Getty Images
In an interview with DW, Fawad Chaudhry, Pakistan's federal minister for information and broadcasting, told DW that Bibi's fate is again in the hands of the Supreme Court after the filing of the review petition.
DW: What measures have you taken against Islamist protesters that held the country under siege after the Supreme Court's decision to acquit Asia Bibi in a blasphemy case?
Fawad Chaudhry: The protests are over and we have entered into an agreement with them to end their demonstrations. Our primary focus was on ending the siege and protests without any violence.
We had two options: to use the state power to confront these protesters or negotiate a deal. We preferred the latter. I am happy that we achieved our targets without using force.
But your government has reportedly arrested hundreds of Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP) activists in the past two days – after sealing a deal with them…
The agreement didn't bar arrests. At the same time, those who showed aggression against the public and violated the law had to be dealt with. And we will deal with them.
According to your deal with the TLP, the government agreed to take measures to prevent Asia Bibi from leaving Pakistan. What is her status right now?
The agreement did not say that the government has to take legal measures; the aggrieved parties have to do that. If legal requirements are fulfilled, her name can be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL).
The case is now with the Supreme Court, and a review petition has been filed with a plea that Bibi's name be put on the ECL. It is up to the top court to decide now.
Asia Bibi's husband Ashiq Masih pleads for asylum
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Prime Minister Imran Khan's government has come under sharp criticism that it caved in to extremists by agreeing to their demands. How would you respond to this?
I don't agree with that. We had a situation and we had to deal with it. Our priority was to avoid violence, and we achieved that through negotiations. Actually, governments in the past have caved in to extremists; our government hasn't.
Extremism is a reality in Pakistan. Previous governments did not take any steps to eradicate or confront this menace. We will definitely take steps to deal with it. Extremism is not only a problem for Pakistan but for other countries too. India is facing it, the US is facing it, and so are other Western nations. We need a joint effort – at the UN level and also at the state level – to deal with it, and we will.
But would you agree that Pakistan's image has been severely damaged because of the entire Bibi issue?
Whenever such protests happen, they affect the country. As I said earlier, Pakistan is not the only country facing this challenge. The international community needs to take joint measures to tackle the extremism issue. We also need to work on it domestically.
Asia Bibi case highlights Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws
Asia Bibi, a Pakistani-Christian woman, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani court on blasphemy charges in 2010. Who is Bibi, and why has her case attracted international attention?
Image: picture alliance/dpa
Leaving 'for Canada'
A decade after being accused of blasphemy, Asia Bibi left Pakistan with her husband Ashiq Masih for Canada. A family member told DW that Bibi's two daughters were waiting for her in Calgary. Her departure was delayed six months, reportedly due to extreme pressure from the deep state not to speak out against the state when she leaves the country.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Ali
A dispute over water
In 2009, Asia Bibi was accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad while she was working in a field in Punjab's Sheikhupura district. The Muslim women who were working with Bibi objected to her fetching water, saying that as a non-Muslim she was not allowed to touch the water bowl. The women then complained to a local cleric and leveled blasphemy charges against Bibi.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
A sensitive matter
According to local media, the argument in the field led to a mob attack on Bibi's house. Later, police took Bibi into custody and launched an investigation into the blasphemy accusations. Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, where 97 percent of the population is Muslim.
Image: Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images
Controversial law
The blasphemy law was introduced by General Zia-ul-Haq, a military dictator, in the 1980s. Activists say they are often implemented in cases that have little to do with blasphemy and are used to settle petty disputes and personal vendettas. Christians, Hindus and Ahmadis — a minority Islamic sect — are often victimized as a result.
Image: Noman Michael
The Pakistani state vs. Bibi
In 2010, a lower court convicted Bibi of blasphemy. Although the defense lawyer argued that the blasphemy allegations were made to settle personal scores, the court sentenced Bibi to death by hanging. Bibi's family has been living under constant fear since 2010. Her husband, Ashiq Masih (R), says he has been fighting a battle for his wife's freedom ever since.
Image: picture alliance/dpa
Assassination of critics
In 2010, Salman Taseer (R), the then governor of Punjab province, backed Bibi and demanded amendments in the blasphemy laws. Taseer's anti-blasphemy law position angered extremists. In 2011, Taseer was gunned down by his own bodyguard in Islamabad. The same year, Shahbaz Bhatti, the then minister for minorities and a prominent blasphemy law critic, was also assassinated by unidentified gunmen.
Image: AP
Celebration of killings
After Taseer's murder, Qadri became a hero for Pakistani Islamists. Qadri was showered with rose petals by right-wing groups as he was taken to jail by the authorities. Qadri was sent to the gallows in 2016. Thousands of people – mostly supporters of Islamic groups – attended Qadri's funeral. Local media reported that Qadri's supporters built a shrine after his death to honor him.
Image: AP
Fear in the judicial community
After the killings of blasphemy law critics, many lawyers refused to take up Bibi's case in the higher courts. In 2014, the Lahore High Court upheld her death sentence. Pakistan's top court, the Supreme Court, was scheduled to hear Bibi's appeal against the conviction in 2016, but one judge refused to be a part of the judicial bench, citing personal reasons.
Image: Reuters/F. Mahmood
Victims of blasphemy law
According to the American Centre for Law and Justice, at least 40 Pakistanis were sentenced to death on blasphemy charges in 2016. The law is often used to target religious minorities and secular Muslims. Although there hasn't been any legal execution under the blasphemy law, there have been instances where angry mobs have lynched alleged blasphemers.
Image: APMA
Persecution of religious minorities
Pakistan's Christians and other religious minorities complain of legal and social discrimination in their country. In the past few years, many Christians and Hindus have been brutally murdered over unproven blasphemy allegations.
Image: RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP/Getty Images
Threats from Islamists
Religious extremists in Pakistan, particularly the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) group, have warned the authorities against reversing Bibi's blasphemy verdict. The country's Christian minority fears that if the judges decide to reverse the death sentence, they could face a violent backlash from the country's hardline Islamic groups.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/B. K. Bangash
International support for Bibi
Rights groups and Western governments demand a fair trial in Bibi's case. In 2015, Bibi's daughter met with Pope Francis, who offered prayers for her mother at the Vatican. In 2014, Amnesty International dubbed the Lahore High Court's verdict against Bibi a "grave injustice." The American Centre for Law and Justice also condemned Bibi's sentence and urged Islamabad to protect religious minorities.
