Pakistan’s Supreme Court will decide on January 29 whether to allow an appeal against its acquittal of a Christian woman who was on death row for eight years for blasphemy.
The Supreme Court’s decision in October last year to overturn the conviction of Aasia Bibi sparked nationwide protests and death threats from hardline groups.
Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa will head the three-member bench that will hear the review petition, filed by the complainant in the case Qari Muhammad Salaam, next week on Tuesday, the Dawn reported.
Aasia, a 47-year-old mother of four, who is now in protective custody, was convicted in 2010 after being accused of insulting Islam in a row with her neighbours. She always maintained her innocence, but spent most of the past eight years in solitary confinement.
She challenged the verdict in October 2014 in the Lahore High Court which upheld the death sentence.
The apex court’s decision to acquit her had sparked three-day-long mass protests led by the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).
The protests were called off after the religio-political party reached an agreement with the government, the foremost condition of which was the placement of Aasia’s name on the Exit Control List.