Asia Bibi's family to meet Pope Francis

Asia Bibi

Source: Fides

The husband and daughter of Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian woman in the Multan female prison, in Punjab prison since 2009, sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy, have arrived in Rome to see Pope Francis. Ashiq Masih, Asia's husband, told Fides: "We believe in Jesus Christ and we turn to Him by putting Asia's life in his hands. We are sure that the Lord will listen to us, also thanks to the Pope's prayer and to the prayers of all the faithful in the world"

Ashiq Masih said: "Asia Bibi trusts in the Pope's prayer and asks the Holy Father to pray for her and for her liberation.. She lives her imprisonment with great faith and entrusts herself to the Lord every day. We live this privilege of meeting the Holy Father with great confidence. We ask him to pray for us and with us,",

Asia's daughter Eisham said she hoped to "see her mother as soon as possible, in a peaceful place and in family tranquility. I pray for this every day," she said.

Asia Bibi has been in prison since 2009 and, after the conviction in first degree, which was confirmed on appeal, only the Supreme Court of Pakistan has the power to change her fate.

According to Joseph Nadeem, who leads the 'Renaissance Education Foundation', which is taking care of Asia Bibi's family and supports its legal expenses, "the lawyers are taking care of the appeal and we are awaiting a date for the hearing, which let us hope happens as soon as possible. This family lives the drama of the imprisonment of an innocent wife and mother. We have full confidence in the rule of law and the Pakistani judiciary. We are convinced that we can prove to the Supreme Court Asia Bibi's innocence."

In Pakistan, Asia Bibi's case has become symbolic and Islamic radicals want her hanged. Her case was cited and exploited during anti-government demonstrations recently in Islamabad by Islamic fundamentalist groups. In order to put a peaceful end to the demonstrations, the government signed a memorandum of understanding in which they undertook not to change the blasphemy law in any way.