Asia Bibi's release comes a week after her acquittal in a landmark case that triggered angry Islamist protests in Muslim-majority Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – A Pakistani Christian woman who spent 8 years on death row for blasphemy has been freed from jail and is believed to have already flown out of the city of Multan where she was being held, heading for an unknown destination, her lawyer said Thursday, November 8. Bibi had spent eight years on death row for allegedly insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad before Pakistan's Supreme Court overturned her conviction on October 31, triggering violent protests by hard-line Islamists calling for her execution. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The husband of the Pakistani Catholic woman who was recently acquitted of blasphemy charges is asking several Western nations to provide asylum for his family, whom he says is in danger of death. Also Read: Pakistani Christian woman in limbo despite acquittal by top court

Asia Bibi, a mother-of-five, was released from prison in the city of Multan, her lawyer Saif Mulook said. Bibi, 53, was convicted of blasphemy in 2010 over allegations she made derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbours objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim. “All I can tell you is that she has been released,” lawyer Saif-ul-Mulook told Reuters by phone from the Netherlands, where the government said on Thursday it had offered him temporary asylum. Thousands of Islamists poured onto the streets in protest after Supreme Court judges overturned Bibi's conviction last Wednesday, causing Prime Minister Imran Khan's administration to sign a controversial deal. The lawyer who helped Asia Bibi, a Christian woman freed from jail after Pakistan’s top court overturned her death sentence in a blasphemy case, was offered a temporary asylum in the Netherlands on Thursday after he fled from Pakistan fearing for the safety of his family.
Pakistani Christian woman Asia Bibi, sentenced to death by hanging in 2010 and recently acquitted, is released from prison. Bibi has reportedly boarded a plane; however, its destination was not known. Several countries have offered her asylum.