Pakistan's most senior judge has said he will personally decide 'soon' the case of Asia Bibi, the Christian woman who is facing the death penalty for alleged 'blasphemy'.
Imprisoned since 2009 and sentenced to death the following year, she has made multiple appeals against her sentence and campaigners say she is emblematic of Pakistan's oppressive and discriminatory attitude to non-Muslims.
Chief Justice Saqib Nisar told her lawyer Saif ul Malook he would hear the case, according to UCA News. 'Be ready, Saif ul Malook. I am going to fix your case soon and I myself will preside over the bench,' he said.
'Bibi's family and everyone else who understands her ordeal, are ecstatic at the news that her appeal will be heard soon,' Malook told UCAN.
The blasphemy law in Pakistan is widely abused as a way of settling personal scores. Asia Bibi was arrested following an argument in an orchard over whether she could drink the same water as Muslims.
Italian news organisation La Stampa quoted a family associate, Joseph Nadeem, as saying she was 'thrilled and full of hope' after he heard the news of the chief justice's statement. 'She reacted with great faith, giving praise to God,' he said.
While her case has been a major embarrassment for Pakistan and highlights the failings of its legal system, attempts to modify the blasphemy law have been unsuccessful in the violent and intimidatory climate created by religious extremism.
