Lawyer Mulook returns to Pakistan in blasphemy case - Dutch lawmaker

Pakistani lawyer Saiful Mulook, who fled to the Netherlands after receiving death threats for defending a Christian woman on blasphemy charges, is returning home, a Dutch politician said on Saturday. Joel Voordewind, a member of the Dutch parliament, said in a tweet that Mulook planned to return to Pakistan to defend Asia Bibi in a new hearing in her case.

Voordewind posted a picture of himself and Mulook at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport adding that Mulook was "hopeful" this would be the last hearing in Bibi's case. Bibi was convicted of blasphemy in 2010 over allegations that she made derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbours objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim.

She was initially sentenced to death but was acquitted by Pakistan's Supreme Court last October and freed. The court is expected to hear a petition against that ruling next week. (Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Hugh Lawson)