Asia Bibi who spent eight long years in prison (on death row) on charges of blasphemy, was finally freed last year and exiled to Canada. She was reunited with her family in Canada after a case that became one of the most high profile ones in Pakistan.
Due to the threats she still receives from extremists, she and her family have assumed new identities and remain in an undisclosed location in Canada. There, she is soon to release her own autobiography “Free At Last” written in French with journalist Isabelle-Anne Tollet, who had become a leading campaigner for Bibi’s freedom, and wrote two books about her case.
The former farmer said “You know my story from the media, perhaps you have tried to put yourself in my place to understand what I suffered,” she was quoted saying in a press release announcing the new book. “But you are far from understanding my day to day existence in prison, or my new life, and that is why I tell you everything in this book.”
Her autobiography claims to reveal her ordeals in prison and all that she went through after she was falsely accused of blasphemy and falsely convicted on charges with flimsy evidence. The Supreme Court overturned the verdict in the year 2018 and she has been free ever since.
She also said “I love my country but I am in exile forever”. It’s heartbreaking to know that even after countless tribulations in prison, and with the verdict being overturned, she still remains in exile for her her own safety.