Lawyer flees as protest ends on promise woman won’t leave Pak

THE COMPLAINANT IN THE ASIA BIBI CASE, QARI MUHAMMAD SALAAM, HAS FILED A REVIEW PETITION IN THE SUPREME COURT

: The lawyer for Asia Bibi, the Christian woman who was spared the death penalty over blasphemy by the Supreme Court, has fled Pakistan.

“In the current scenario, it’s not possible for me to live in Pakistan,” Saiful Mulook told reporters in Islamabad.

“I need to stay alive as I still have to fight the legal battle for Asia Bibi,” said the 62-year-old, before leaving for Europe.

On Friday, the hardline Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan group agreed to end its stir against the overturning of Bibi’s death sentence on the condition that she would not be allowed to leave the country.

Under the agreement, TLP will end the protests and the government will initiate the legal process to place Bibi’s name on the exit control list, media reports said.

The government has also committed not to oppose a review petition filed against the Supreme Court’s judgement in the case.

The government promised to take appropriate legal action to redress any deaths that may have occurred during the protests against the verdict and to release all people detained in connection with the protests that started on October 30.

The TLP has, in turn, apologised if it “hurt the sentiments or inconvenienced anyone without reason.”

The TLP leaders later addressed activists in Lahore and asked them to end the protest and clear the roads.