Asia Bibi’s lawyer becomes a ‘prime target’

Saiful Mulook told reporters at The Hague that he had no idea where Asia Bibi was.

He said local United Nations staff urged him to leave the country on Saturday following her acquittal by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

“I was put on a plane against my wishes,” Mulook said.

“I am not happy to be without her. I would have been much happier if I was in the same place as her. But everybody said I was a prime target.”

Bibi was convicted in 2010 of blasphemy and sentenced to death after being accused of insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. She has always denied any wrongdoing.

Supporters of Pakistani radical groups burn a poster of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Since news of her release spread, more than 11,000 people have protested on the streets of several major cities in Pakistan. On Friday, 5,000 Islamists gathered in the capital Islamabad calling for the public execution of the mother-of-five.

Some of the protesters also called for the judges in the case to be killed.

Mulook said he hadn’t been informed “for security reasons” whether Bibi remained in police custody or where she would want to seek asylum.

France and Spain have offered Bibi asylum.

Meanwhile, rival politicians in Pakistan’s National Assembly have been filmed having a physical fight over