Asia Bibi freed from Multan jail: sources

MULTAN: Asia Bibi, a Christian woman acquitted by the Supreme Court in a blasphemy case, has been released from Multan jail, sources told ARY News on Wednesday night.

According to sources, the women’s jail in Multan, where Asia was being kept, received her release orders after which she was freed.

Last month, the Supreme Court set aside her conviction in the blasphemy case registered against her in 2010.

This verdict came on an appeal filed by the woman challenging her capital punishment.

Asia Bibi, a mother of five, had been on death row since 2010, when Pope Benedict XVI joined in international calls for her release.

In 2015 her daughter met with Pope Francis, who as the head of the Catholic Church offered prayers for her mother.

Ms Bibi was arrested after three women went to a local cleric in Sheikhupura, to report her and the trial court convicted and sentenced her to death.

She appealed to the Lahore High Court, which upheld the decision in October 2014, with the case ending up at the Supreme Court.