Asia Bibi, a Christian woman from Pakistan, must be released from death row and be acquitted of blasphemy. This is the aim of the petition campaign 'Save Asia Bibi' of the human rights organization Jubilee Campaign, the Dutch Underground Church Foundation (SDOK) and the Dutch political party ChristianUnion. The petition can be signed here.

The signatures will be presented to both Dutch and European policymakers and officials who can exert influence on Pakistani policies, such as High Representative of the EU Federica Mogherini, the Dutch ambassador to Pakistan and Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders.

The petition comes at a critical moment, as the death sentence has now been confirmed by a higher court. Ms. Bibi was sentenced to death by hanging in 2010 after colleagues had accused her of insulting the Prophet Muhammad. Subsequently, the mother of five spent years in death row waiting for her appeal to be dealt with by a higher court in Lahore. This court confirmed the verdict on October 16, 2014.

Politicians react

Members of the Dutch and European Parliaments are shocked and outraged about Ms. Bibi’s death penalty. Member of the Dutch House of Representatives Cees van der Staaij of the Reformed Political Party (SGP) has posed parliamentary questions to the minister of foreign affairs about the case. These questions were signed by six other members of the House. They want to know which means of legal redress are still available to Ms. Bibi and which means the minister and the international community can use to get her released from prison and acquitted of blasphemy.

At the request of MEP Peter van Dalen (ChristianUnion), last week there was a debate about Ms. Bibi’s death sentence in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Mr. Van Dalen is of the opinion that it is high time for the EU to start exerting pressure on Pakistan to do away with its ‘‘blasphemy laws.’’

Appeal to Supreme Court

Asia Bibi’s lawyers have appealed the confirmation of the death penalty to the Supreme Court in Islamabad, the highest court in Pakistan. Because of the backlog in ongoing court cases, this is expected to again take years.