Pope Francis greets Asia Bibi's family

At General Audience in St Peter's Square yesterday, Pope Francis gave a special greeting to Asia Bibi's husband and daughter. Asia has been in a Pakistani prison since 2010 when she was was convicted of blasphemy against the prophet Mohammed and sentenced to hanging by a district court. The conviction must still be upheld by Pakistan's Supreme Court before the sentence can be carried out.

Asia Bibi's lawyer Joseph Nadeem held a press conference Tuesday in Rome to appeal to the Italian Parliament and to the international community to put pressure on the Pakistani government in support of her release.

In an interview with Vatican Radio's Francesca Sabatinelli, Mr Nadeem spoke about the importance of the international community's pressure concerning her future. "The last chance is a presidential pardon, which could happen if the international community will pressurize the Pakistani government and ask for the freedom of Asia Bibi. We already submitted two applications in the Supreme Court for the appeal hearing, but the Chief Justice rejected our applications because they asked to wait for the suitable time. It could take one to four years."

"The family remains positive in the face of difficulty. If the Church will get involved it could be easier to secure her freedom."

Source: VIS