Christian farmworker and former death row inmate, Asia Bibi, has revealed that she is seeking asylum in France.
The mother-of-five fled from Pakistan to Canada last year after being acquitted on bogus blasphemy charges by her country’s Supreme Court in 2018.
In a recent interview with RTL radio, Bibi said that it was her “great desire to live in France.”
After spending the best part of a decade thinking she would be executed for a crime she did not commit, Bibi insisted that she was “enormously grateful to Canada” for welcoming her in.
Now, however, she desires to work more closely with french journalist Anne-Isabelle Tollet. Tollet, who has been a staunch supporter of Bibi throughout her legal battle, also partnered with the persecuted mother to write a book about her experiences titled, “Free At Last.”
“France is the country from where I received my new life… Anne-Isabelle is an angel for me,” Bibi added.
The 49-year-old is due to meet French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday to discuss her future.
Speaking at an event to promote her book, Bibi said she missed Pakistan’s culture and weather, and felt she as if she was “in exile forever.”
Incredibly, despite the tremendous suffering she experienced there, the brave mother suggested that there was an outside chance that she may return to Pakistan in the future.
“I really hope for it, just the way I kept hope when I was in jail that one day I was going to be free,” she said, according to the Guardian.
Since escaping, Bibi has vowed to campaign against the strict blasphemy laws that almost claimed her life. Indeed, many believers still remain in prison as a result of the country’s draconian Islamic penal code.
“I feel that all of us, we should unite to help those people who are imprisoned under such blasphemy laws, not only in Pakistan but around the world,” she said.
Speaking to the Telegraph last year, Bibi urged “the whole world to pay attention to this issue.”
“The way any person is alleged of blasphemy without any proper investigation without any proper proof, that should be noticed,” she added.
Bibi was arrested back in 2008 after engaging in a row with her Muslim neighbors over a glass of water. Shockingly, despite living in the relative safety of North America, Bibi’s address remains undisclosed for security reasons. Indeed, she has even been the subject of death threats.
“I did read in the newspapers that someone was threatening to kill me,” she said. “But I just keep calm. I’m strong.”