.... Her death would have been hugely controversial internationally. No one has yet been executed under Pakistan's blasphemy laws. But that's not the way it works. As with Asia Bibi here, the trials are dragged out as long as possible, and the victims made to suffer in prison before eventual release. Then, if they don't go into hiding or flee the country, they're liable to be murdered by angry mobs of fanatics.
This case has become notorious because of the murder of Punjab governor Salmaan Taheer. He stated his opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy law, and suggested that Bibi could be pardoned. For that he was assassinated by his bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri, who has since become a hero among hardline Islamists, with a shrine dedicated to his memory on the outskirts of Islamabad:
His supporters also created a political party - campaigning to preserve the blasphemy laws - which gathered around two million votes in this year's general election.
It's the same party which many fear could be responsible for violent unrest in the coming days.
So, unless she's spirited out of Pakistan, Asia Bibi's future looks bleak indeed. [Mick Hartley] Read more
