A Christian woman, who was sentenced to death in Pakistan for blasphemy, has filed her last legal challenge to her conviction for insulting the Prophet Mohammed four years ago.
A high court in the eastern city of Lahore confirmed the death sentence of Asia Bibi last month, after she made an emotional plea to her supporters in an open letter.
'You are my only hope of staying alive in this dungeon, so please don’t abandon me,' she said. 'I did not commit blasphemy.'
Bibi, a 50-year-old mother-of-five, has been on death row since November 2010 after she was convicted of insulting Mohammed during a dispute with Muslim co-workers over a bowl of water.
Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in majority Muslim Pakistan, with even unproven allegations often prompting mob violence.
Bibi's defense attorney Saiful Malook told AFP that he had filed an appeal on her behalf to the Supreme Court, adding that his client has asked the court to reconsider deficiencies in the case including allegedly manipulated evidence and a delay between the time of the incident and the investigation of police
The lawyer’s appeal comes in line with a personal plea presented by Bibi's husband Ashiq Masih to Pakistan's President Mamnoon Hussain asking for her to be pardoned and allowed to move to France.