Pakistan: Over Half A Million Demand Asia Bibi’s Freedom Via Petition

Over half a million people have so far supported a global petition that demands Pakistan release Asia Bibi, a Catholic mother of five who is on death row for blasphemy.

So far more than 540,000 people have signed the petition which The American Center for Law and Justice says is important because it shows “Pakistan that the world is watching this case.”

Bibi was arrested in June 2009 after being accused by her fellow Muslim farm workers of insulting the Prophet Muhammad, a charge she strongly denies.

After her trial, which lasted one and a half years, Bibi was sentenced to death in November 2010. She is currently awaiting the country’s Supreme Court to hear her appeal.

Human rights campaigners say the blasphemy law is often used to settle personal scores or as a way to target religious minorities.