ISLAMABAD - Activists voiced new fears for a woman on death row for blasphemy Friday, as religious groups launched fresh calls for her hanging.
Asia Bibi, a Christian mother-of-five, whose plight has prompted prayers from the Vatican, has been on death row since she was convicted in 2010 of committing blasphemy during an argument with a Muslim woman over a bowl of water.
Bibi’s lawyer Saiful Mulook said Friday religious groups have launched a “fresh offensive” against his client in the wake of the execution of Mumtaz Qadri.
On Thursday a statement issued from Islamabad’s Red Mosque called on the government to execute “the blasphemer Asia Bibi as soon as possible and not bow to international pressure”.
Christian activist Shamoon Gill, a long-time advocate for Bibi, said Friday that Islamist groups are “putting her life in danger”, citing police who warned him to be vigilant this week.
Even if authorities do not succumb to the pressure, religious groups could incite any of Qadri’s thousands of supporters to vigilante action, he warned.
Prison officials put Bibi in isolation in October over fears of attacks by vigilantes after the Supreme Court upheld Qadri’s death sentence.