She may have been freed, but she’s never likely to be free.

Asia Bibi, a Christian farm labourer who has spent the past eight years in solitary confinement after being convicted of blasphemy, will almost certainly have to start a new life with her husband and children outside Pakistan, perhaps with new identities. She will spend the rest of her days looking over her shoulder in fear of an international assassin.

And not just Bibi and her family. The lives of the three judges, who apparently made the decision to overturn her conviction three weeks ago but held back from announcing it for fear of the consequences, are also at risk from fundamentalists intent on revenge.

Within hours of the supreme court judgment, Afzal Qadri of Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP), a political party dedicated to punishing blasphemy, said the judges faced death.

There is precedent. In January 2011, Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab who had lobbied for a presidential pardon for Bibi and urged reform of the blasphemy laws, was shot in the back by one of his bodyguards, Mumtaz Qadri. The bodyguard was found guilty of murder and executed; tens of thousands of people attended his funeral in March 2016.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Protesters hold placards reading: ‘Hang Asia Bibi’ after the supreme court acquitted her. Photograph: Nadeem Khawer/EPA

A few weeks later, more than 70 Christians were killed in a suicide bombing at a church in Lahore on Easter Sunday.

A month after Taseer was killed, Pakistan’s religious minorities minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian who spoke out against the blasphemy law, was shot dead in Islamabad.

On Wednesday, TLP supporters took to the streets to protest against the supreme court decision in cities including Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, with major roads blocked. Officials urged people to stay inside.

Many of Bibi’s supporters have been afraid to speak out for fear of reprisals. Amnesty International accused the Pakistani government of failing to take “effective measures to curb the campaign of hate and violence incited by certain groups in the country following [Bibi’s] conviction”. The state had shown “immense tolerance for the narratives of hate”, a researcher, Rabia Mehmood, told CNN.

In July, campaigners for religious freedom were dismayed when Imran Khan defended Pakistan’s blasphemy laws in the run-up to the country’s general election.

Critics accused Khan – now prime minister - of using the issue to win support from religious rightwingers. “Imran Khan is a coward; he is supporting murderers and mob violence. This law is persecuting people, it is not respecting our prophet,” Shahbaz Taseer, the son of the murdered Punjab governor, told the Guardian.

According to Open Doors, which monitors Christian persecution around the world, Pakistan’s blasphemy laws “target Christians in particular”.

It says: “The abuses of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are some of the starkest examples of persecution in Pakistan. They have been devastating for minorities, including Christians, who must always act with caution in case an allegation of blasphemy is raised to settle a personal score. This year, a blasphemy case was brought against a boy for simply responding to a cartoon about Islam on social media.”

Pakistan is number five on Open Doors’ league table of countries in which Christians are at risk.

On Wednesday, advocates for religious freedom and Christian organisations welcomed the supreme court’s decision.

Kelsey Zorzi of ADF International, which promotes religious freedom, said: “Blasphemy laws criminalise the exercise of fundamental human rights, including freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

“Blasphemy laws directly violate international law. All people have the right to freely choose, and live out, their faith. We, therefore, urge all governments to uphold this right by ceasing enforcement and initiating repeal of their blasphemy laws.”

Neville Kyrke-Smith of Aid to the Church in Need said: “Today is like the dawn of new hope for oppressed minorities.”

He saluted the courage of the judges in acquitting Bibi, saying: “It is important that justice is not just seen to be done but is done.”

There are fewer than 4 million Christians in Pakistan out of a total population of 197 million. The vast majority of the population is Muslim, with Hindus the biggest religious minority.

Most Christians live in or near the southern city of Karachi, the Punjab region and around Peshawar. Many are poor and do menial jobs, although there are more affluent Christian families in Karachi.