Mother faces death penalty defending her honor [Archives:2007/1027/Local News]

By: Fatima Al-Ajel
SANA'A Feb. 21 ) Lima, a mother of five children was arrested in Abyan governorate three years ago, accused of murder.

The accused, who lives in Al-Mahefed district was arrested in the central jail three years ago because she killed her brother in law after he tried to molest her in her house. The accuser admitted the crime, saying that she acted in self- defense. According to Al-shoura net, the husband of the accuser had divorced her after the crime, although she informed him that the killed had been bothering her and many times he had tried to molest her, but still the husband didn't do or say anything.

The accused was put in the jail with her 40- days old baby old, and she faces the death penalty according to the first instance as decided by Ja`ar court.

The lawyer of Lima, Ishraq Al-Maqatri, an activist and manager of the advocacy and legal protection for women's rights project initiated by Oxfam-GB, says that her sentence was decided far too hastily. The sentence was declared immediately after she was admitted.

The lawyer of Lima commented that Lima was not the murderer, and that there were other elements involved in this case. She was forced to admit the crime as a result of social stress and pressure. Also, martial law and the lack of any legal culture, especially among women, were the primary reasons that pushed her to confess. Lima's case is not a normal case; she was forced by her husband and family to admit the crime. They convinced her that she would not be accused or killed if she admitted to it, because of their misplaced belief that “a woman is never charged with death sentence as would a man.””

Al-Maqatri stated that there is sufficient evidence to prove the innocence of the accused which could secure her freedom. Such supporting factors include the disappearance of the criminal tools and the fast interring the corpse without a postmortem examination having been performed on it. Additionally