The lawyer of the only Pakistani Christian woman to be given the death penalty for alleged blasphemy met her in prison in late October, reporting that she is safe and in good health.
The final appeal for Aasiya Noreen, commonly known as Asia Bibi, is pending before Pakistan’s top court, after Lahore High Court turned down her appeal on technical grounds. Through Malook, a prominent attorney and expert in Islamic law, Noreen had been allowed to take the final appeal against her death penalty to the Supreme Court in Islamabad in July 2015. The mother of five has been in prison since the summer of 2009.
Visit to the prison
Because several foreign news agencies had contacted him over rumours that Noreen’s health was worsening, defence lawyer Saif-ul-Malook ‘decided to visit the prison and personally meet Asia, to ascertain if the news was correct’. He was accompanied by Asia Bibi’s husband, Ashiq Masih, on his 21 October visit to the Multan Women’s Prison.
