It was an unforgettable moment when I was woken at 5am by a phone call to say that Asia Bibi had been acquitted by Pakistan’s Supreme Court. For more than eight years, the Catholic woman from Pakistan’s Punjab Province had languished in jail after being found guilty of blasphemy and sentenced to death.
But now, her voice full of excitement, Eisham Ashiq, Bibi’s daughter, was rejoicing over news that the highest court in the land had ordered her “immediate release”. Unable to speak much English, the 18-year-old quickly passed the phone to family friend Joseph Nadeem, who described how they had all “danced for joy” when the news came through early on October 31.
