Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian woman interview

Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian woman who spent years on death row after being convicted of blasphemy, says she always believed she would be freed.

Now living in Canada, she told the BBC that she hoped she would be able to return to Pakistan one day.

Ms Bibi has released a memoir, Enfin Libre! (Finally Free), written with French journalist Anne-Isabelle Tollet.

In it, she recounts her time in jail and her brutal treatment by guards.

In one of the most disturbing incidents she recounts how she had her neck put in a brace that was tightened with a key, and was pulled about on a chain by guards.

Pakistani authorities have dismissed the allegations, saying her claims of torture were "not plausible".

Who is Asia Bibi?

• Asia Noreen - commonly known as Asia Bibi - was accused of blasphemy after an argument with a group of women in June 2009
• A year later she became the first woman to be sentenced to death under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, causing an international outcry
• The death sentence was quashed by the Supreme Court in 2018, triggering violent protests by religious hardliners

Ms Bibi spoke to the BBC during a visit to France where she is promoting her new book.

She recalled how, in 2009, a longstanding dispute with neighbours culminated in a group of local women accusing her of insulting the Prophet Muhammad.

"My husband was at work, my kids were in school, I had gone to pick fruit in the orchard," she said. "A mob came and dragged me away. They made fun of me, I was very helpless."

• Asia Bibi: Pakistan's notorious blasphemy case
• Acquitted of blasphemy and living in fear in Pakistan

In her book, Ms Bibi tells how she feared for her life in prison, with other inmates calling for her to be hanged. She also recalled mistreatment at the hands of the prison guards.

"I can't breathe," she writes. "My neck is compressed by a neck brace that the guard can tighten as much as he wants with a big key. A long chain drags on the dirty floor; it links my throat to the guard's handcuffs that drags me like a dog."

Ms Bibi told the BBC that her Christian faith helped her through the ordeal.

"They said change your faith, and you'll be freed. But I said no. I will live my sentence. With my faith," she said.

"I found out from my husband that the whole world was praying for me. And that even the Pope had prayed for me. That made me happy. And I found out the whole world was praying for my misery to end.

"That made me feel that their prayers would definitely free me."