Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian mother of five condemned to death for blasphemy- based on false accusations and a show trial - is still in jail more than a year and a half after the ruling, waiting for the Pakistani Supreme Court to examine her appeal.
In the meantime, the issue of the blasphemy law seems to have been forgotten in the country after the governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, lost his life for his courageous defense of the Christian woman; nearly one year has passed since his assassination by a radical Islamist.
Soon after, the Christian Minister for Minority Religions, the Catholic Shahbaz Bhatti, suffered the same fate for calling it “a black law.”
The Supreme Court is being careful about setting the date for the appeal, conscious of the fact that the hearing, if it were to take place, would be the eye of a dramatic political storm in a country that, day after day, seems increasingly held hostage to forces using radical Islam for political purposes.
Asia Bibi, a blameless pawn in a battle that is enormously larger than she, heartbreakingly endures this unwanted and unasked for trial.
A team from the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance, and Settlement (CLAAS) (the Pakistani organization that provides fair defense, assistance, and, when necessary, refuge to the victims of the blasphemy law) met with her on Christmas Eve to check on her condition, after a few reports actually spoke of torture.
In October, Asia Bibi said she had been mistreated by the female prison guard who had been specially appointed to the prison in Sheikhupura to protect her. At one point the prison guard forcibly entered her cell, but the other guards moved to stop her, and she was suspended from her duties for bad behavior.
Asia Bibi was found to be in good physical and mental condition, but says she is very sad about being separated from her husband and three small children. She also says she is very sad about the deaths of Salman Taseer and Shabaz Bhatti, who had attempted to defend her.
But what wounds her even more is how her case has been managed, and the failure of investigators to seek out the truth about the blasphemy accusations raised against her.
“I suffer because of false accusations of blasphemy, for being falsely accused of lacking respect for the Prophet. I have never uttered a single word against the dignity of Islam. And I have never even thought to insult the honor of the Prophet. The accusations of blasphemy are completely unfounded.”
Asia Bibi asks people to continue to pray for her: “I need your prayers, with the grace of God that I know well, and I pray to leave here healthy and delivered from these false accusations.”
“I pray every day for my country,” she added, “and I pray for God to protect Pakistan. And above all I pray for those who give Pakistan a bad image in the world, and I pray also for those who have falsely accused me, that the Lord will grant them wisdom, and that they no longer involve innocent people in cases of this kind.”
One of the problems that will arise when and if the Asia Bibi case is heard by the Supreme Court is security, inside the courtroom and out. It is not unusual for people accused of blasphemy, even when found innocent by the court, to be met with an extra-judicial execution by fundamentalist assassins.
Very often the answer for them is to flee, sometimes even out of the country.
CLAAS UK Coordinator Nasir Saed has asked Christians to pray for Asia Bibi and others in jail for blasphemy.
“Asia Bibi continues to show an impressive spiritual strength despite the challenges she must face to overturn the death sentence imposed for blasphemy. In her struggle we see the real suffering that the unjust application of the blasphemy law is causing Pakistani Christians. But it is difficult to predict what 2012 has in store for Asia Bibi. We continue to pray for a miracle, for her and for the other accused.”
In the long term, according to Nasir Saed, the only way out is to reform the blasphemy law: “We will campaign very hard for this throughout the year.”
For Asia Bibi, the choice is difficult – if her situation is made an example, given the type of public opinion and manipulation in Pakistan, may actually harm her, radicalizing people’s positions – especially if the campaign in her favor comes from abroad.
And besides, the injustice of what she is suffering is evident, and burning.