Asia Bibi still in Multan jail one week after acquittal

ISLAMABAD: One week after the Supreme Court ordered her release, Asia Bibi who has spent eight years on death row for blasphemy was still in prison Wednesday, with no immediate prospect of freedom.

Thousands of protesters poured onto the streets in protest after Supreme Court judges overturned Asia Bibi´s conviction in blasphemy case.

The protesters blockaded major cities to demand her immediate execution, in a three-day stand-off that ended when Prime Minister Imran Khan´s administration agreed to allow a review of the Supreme Court´s ruling.

The deal has left Asia Bibi in legal limbo -- and languishing in jail for a crime of which she has been acquitted.

"Asia Bibi is in Multan jail and has not been released yet. We have not received orders to release her so far," Zawar Hussain Warraich, minister for prisons in Punjab province, told AFP.

"Normally we receive orders in two days after court judgement and if relatives and lawyers of a prisoner are very active, they can bring it even within a day, but as far as Asia Bibi is concerned, it has not happened yet," Warraich added.

"Supreme Court should issue a directive to send us her release orders. We will release her as soon as we get it."

He denied reports that extra security had been laid on for Bibi, saying "she is already well protected by the jail staff".

An appeal has been filed with the court against Bibi´s release and the party that headed the protests demanding her execution, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan, has warned its hardliners were prepared to take to the streets again.

Bibi´s husband Ashiq Masih has appealed for Britain or the United States to grant the family asylum, while her lawyer has fled to the Netherlands.

Masih said the delay in releasing his wife, a mother of five, was adding to the family´s agony.

"The daughters are weeping. They still haven´t seen their mother. The family is totally shattered," he said.