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Asia Bibi's autobiography published

  • Bess Twiston-Davies

image Open Doors

image Open Doors

Today, Asia Bibi, the Catholic woman who was sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan, released her autobiography.

Enfin Libre! (Free at Last!) has been written by Bibi and the French journalist Anne-Isabelle Tollet. Bibi, a farm labourer spent nearly nine years in prison after she was accused of blasphemy in 2010 during a dispute over a cup of water.

During her years on death row, Bibi's case won the support of Pope Francis and many international human rights organisations. Two Pakistani politicians were murdered for supporting Bibi and calling for a reform of the country's harsh Blasphemy laws.

When in late 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan overhauled Bibi's conviction, a wave of violent protests engulfed the country.

For several months after her release, Bibi remained in "protective custody" and said she was prevented from going to Canada which had offered her asylum.

In May 2019, she joined her family in a secret location in Canada where they are thought to live under assumed identities because they still receive death threats from extremists.

Yesterday, what is believed to be the first photograph of Bibi in Canada was released. It shows her with Tollet, a former Pakistan correspondent for the international news channel France 24. She is the author of two other books about Bibi.

In the press release for Enfin Libre! Bibi is quoted as saying: "You know my story from the media, perhaps you have tried to put yourself in my place to understand what I suffered, But you are far from understanding my day to day existence in prison, or my new life, and that is why I tell you everything in this book."

Enfin Libre! Is published by Éditions du Rocher.

LINK

www.editionsdurocher.fr/auteur/fiche/55166-asia-bibi


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