Pakistani Christian Aasia Bibi leaves country after blasphemy acquittal
She has landed in Canada, her lawyer told media, more than six months after she was acquitted in a blasphemy case by Pakistan's top court.
Pakistani TV channels Geo and ARY, citing unidentified sources, also reported Bibi had left the country.
A Pakistani Christian woman who spent eight years on death row over false blasphemy charges, Aasia Bibi, has left the country, her lawyer and media said on Wednesday, more than six months after she was acquitted by Pakistan's top court.
"I have inquired within available channels, and according to them she has left for Canada," Bibi's lawyer, Saif Ul Malook said. CNN reported she had arrived in Canada.
Pakistani TV channels Geo and ARY, citing unidentified sources, also reported Bibi had left the country.
Pakistan's foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
Pakistan's top court in January upheld her October acquittal, dismissing a petition filed by religious groups who called for her execution.
The decision left Bibi, who was then staying at an undisclosed location under tight security, free to leave Pakistan and seek asylum abroad.
In November, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country was in talks with Pakistan about helping Bibi. There was no immediate confirmation of her whereabouts or intentions following the verdict.
Canada's foreign ministry stressed the case was a priority for the government.
"We are working with like-minded friends and allies on this issue. Canada is prepared to do everything we can to ensure the safety of Aasia Bibi," it said in a statement.
Over a glass of water
The case shone a spotlight on Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws and the often difficult conditions facing its Christian minority who make up 1.6 percent of the largely Sunni Muslim country of over 200 million.
Bibi, a farm worker, was convicted in 2010 of making derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbours working in the fields with her objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim.
Her conviction was overturned in October, prompting protests from hardliners calling for her death and demanding that the government prevent her from leaving Pakistan.
She has always denied committing blasphemy.
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