The Foreign Office of Pakistan on Thursday rejected news reports that Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who was acquitted by the Supreme Court last week in a blasphemy case against her, has left the country.
“Asia Bibi is in Pakistan,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said.
“There is no truth in reports that Asia Bibi has left the country,” he added.
The FO spokesperson's statement comes following reports that Bibi had left the country following her release from a prison in Multan on Wednesday night.
"She has been freed," lawyer Saif-ul-Mulook said in a text message to AFP last night. "I have been told that she is on a plane but nobody knows where she will land."
The mother of five, is believed to have already flown out of the city of Multan where she was being held in a women's prison, and was headed for an unknown destination, her lawyer said.
Bibi was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death in 2010 despite her advocates maintaining her innocence and insisting the accusers held grudges against her.
Her release comes a week after her acquittal in a landmark case that triggered angry protests in the country and following appeals from her husband, Ashiq Masih, for Britain or the United States to grant the family asylum.
Saif-ul-Mulook, her lawyer, fled to the Netherlands on Saturday citing threats to his life.
Bibi's conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court on October 31 but she had remained in prison as the government negotiated with protesters from religious groups — led by the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) — who blockaded major cities and demanded her immediate execution.
