<p class="title">A Pakistani Christian woman has been freed from prison a week after the Supreme Court overturned her conviction and death sentence for blasphemy against Islam, and she is now at a secure location for fear of attacks on her, officials said on Thursday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The release of Asia Bibi, a mother of five, prompted immediate anger from a hard-line Islamist party that has threatened to paralyse daily life countrywide with street protests if her acquittal is not reversed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammad carries a mandatory death penalty in Pakistan, which has among the harshest blasphemy laws in the world.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Three security officials told Reuters early on Thursday that Bibi, aged 53, had been released from a prison in Multan, a city in southern Punjab province.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><strong>READ MORE</strong></p>.<p class="bodytext"><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/husband-freed-pakistani-701557.html" target="_blank"><strong>Husband of freed Pak Christian woman appeals for refuge </strong></a></p>.<p class="bodytext">She was flown to the airport near the capital, Islamabad, but was in protective custody because of threats to her life, said the three officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Bibi's lawyer - who fled the country after the Supreme Court ruling and this week sought asylum in the Netherlands - confirmed she was no longer in prison.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"All I can tell you is that she has been released," lawyer Saif-ul-Mulook told Reuters by phone from the Netherlands.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A spokesman for the hard-line Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP) party that took to the streets after the Supreme Court ruling said her release violated a deal with the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to end the protests.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The TLP activists are agitated as the government has breached the agreement with our party. The rulers have shown their dishonesty," TLP spokesman Ejaz Ashrafi told Reuters.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A government deal with the TLP protesters last week promised not to block a petition for the Supreme Court to review Bibi's acquittal in light of Islamic sharia law.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The government also promised to work to ensure she could not leave the country to seek asylum while the petition was pending, the TLP has said.</p>
<p class="title">A Pakistani Christian woman has been freed from prison a week after the Supreme Court overturned her conviction and death sentence for blasphemy against Islam, and she is now at a secure location for fear of attacks on her, officials said on Thursday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The release of Asia Bibi, a mother of five, prompted immediate anger from a hard-line Islamist party that has threatened to paralyse daily life countrywide with street protests if her acquittal is not reversed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammad carries a mandatory death penalty in Pakistan, which has among the harshest blasphemy laws in the world.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Three security officials told Reuters early on Thursday that Bibi, aged 53, had been released from a prison in Multan, a city in southern Punjab province.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><strong>READ MORE</strong></p>.<p class="bodytext"><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/husband-freed-pakistani-701557.html" target="_blank"><strong>Husband of freed Pak Christian woman appeals for refuge </strong></a></p>.<p class="bodytext">She was flown to the airport near the capital, Islamabad, but was in protective custody because of threats to her life, said the three officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Bibi's lawyer - who fled the country after the Supreme Court ruling and this week sought asylum in the Netherlands - confirmed she was no longer in prison.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"All I can tell you is that she has been released," lawyer Saif-ul-Mulook told Reuters by phone from the Netherlands.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A spokesman for the hard-line Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP) party that took to the streets after the Supreme Court ruling said her release violated a deal with the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to end the protests.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The TLP activists are agitated as the government has breached the agreement with our party. The rulers have shown their dishonesty," TLP spokesman Ejaz Ashrafi told Reuters.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A government deal with the TLP protesters last week promised not to block a petition for the Supreme Court to review Bibi's acquittal in light of Islamic sharia law.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The government also promised to work to ensure she could not leave the country to seek asylum while the petition was pending, the TLP has said.</p>