ISLAMABAD (AP) — An international human rights advocate has joined calls for the release of a Pakistani Christian woman sentenced to death under the country’s blasphemy laws.
Amnesty International on Friday also called on Pakistan to revise the law under which mother of five Asia Bibi was convicted this month.
The case stems from a dispute between Bibi and a group of Muslim women over the use of a water bowl. The other women accused her of making derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad. She has been in prison for one-and-a-half years and her case has been appealed.
Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday urged Pakistan to release Bibi.
The case has drawn attention to blasphemy laws, which critics say are used to persecute Christian and other minorities.
