Pakistan respects Aasia Bibi's legal rights, Qureshi tells Canadian counterpart
Canadian FM lauds top court's judgement to acquit Aasia and PM Imran's speech in her support
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had a telephonic conversation with his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland, in which he doubled reaffirmed that Islamabad recognises Aasia Bibi's legal rights. PHOTO: EXPRESS
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has told his Canadian counterpart that Pakistan recognises Aasia Bibi's legal rights.
Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal spoke out via Twitter, saying that Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland has called the FM Qureshi on Monday, where she lauded the Supreme Court's "courageous" decision to acquit Aasia, as well as Prime Minister Imran Khan's speech in this regard.
Qureshi said that Aasia is a Pakistani national and her legal rights would be fully respected.
‘Welcoming’ Canada ready to take in Aasia Bibi: PM Trudeau
On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had also said that his government is holding talks with Pakistan over potentially offering asylum to Aasia – a Christian woman accused of blasphemy in 2010 and sentenced to death but on October 30 she was acquitted by the Supreme Court.
“We are in discussions with the Pakistani government,” Trudeau said in an interview with AFP in Paris, where he was attending a peace conference organised by French President Emmanuel Macron.
“There is a delicate domestic context that we respect which is why I don’t want to say any more about that, but I will remind people Canada is a welcoming country,” he said.
The 51-year-old woman had been on the death row since November 2010 after she was convicted of committing blasphemy during an argument with two Muslim women at a village in the Sheikhupura district of Punjab.
Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal spoke out via Twitter, saying that Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland has called the FM Qureshi on Monday, where she lauded the Supreme Court's "courageous" decision to acquit Aasia, as well as Prime Minister Imran Khan's speech in this regard.
Qureshi said that Aasia is a Pakistani national and her legal rights would be fully respected.
‘Welcoming’ Canada ready to take in Aasia Bibi: PM Trudeau
On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had also said that his government is holding talks with Pakistan over potentially offering asylum to Aasia – a Christian woman accused of blasphemy in 2010 and sentenced to death but on October 30 she was acquitted by the Supreme Court.
“We are in discussions with the Pakistani government,” Trudeau said in an interview with AFP in Paris, where he was attending a peace conference organised by French President Emmanuel Macron.
“There is a delicate domestic context that we respect which is why I don’t want to say any more about that, but I will remind people Canada is a welcoming country,” he said.
The 51-year-old woman had been on the death row since November 2010 after she was convicted of committing blasphemy during an argument with two Muslim women at a village in the Sheikhupura district of Punjab.