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Saudi Arabian News Updates |
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20 May 2009 JEDDAH: The Court of Cassation has
refused to ratify a sentence handed to a 75-year-old
widow who was accused of khulwa (illegal seclusion)
with two young men, who were reportedly bringing her
bread.
Khamisa Sawadi and the two men, including her late
husband’s 25-year-old nephew, were sentenced to 40
lashes and four months in prison by a court in Al-Shamli
town in Hail province.
Sawadi, a Syrian national who was married to a Saudi,
was convicted and sentenced in March. She previously
told the court that she considered her late husband’s
nephew, Fahd Al-Anzi, her son because she breast-fed
him when he was a baby. But the court rejected her
claim, saying she had no evidence. In Islamic law,
breast-feeding establishes a degree of maternal
relation.
Sawadi met the men last June after she asked Al-Anzi
to bring her five loaves of bread.
Al-Anzi and his friend and business partner, Hadiyan
bin Zein, were arrested by members of the Commission
for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice
when they came out of Sawadi’s home after delivering
her bread.
Sawadi’s lawyer, Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, said the
verdict was against the principles of Shariah. “Islam
has given women different and simpler rules to follow
when they become old,” he said, citing the example of
covering the face.
“The judge was supposed to deal with this woman on
that basis,” the lawyer added.
The Court of Cassation has returned the case to Al-Shamli
court with several observations on the previous
verdict, including the rejection of her breastfeeding
claim and the fact that she is old.
The court said it based its March 3 ruling on
information from citizens and the testimony of Al-Anzi’s
father, who accused Sawadi of corruption.
“The villagers confirmed that he is her breast-fed
son,” Al-Lahem said, adding that khulwa takes place in
a closed place where there are no other witnesses.
“Sawadi’s house is only a tent. Everyone could see
her,” the lawyer said.
Sawadi now lives in Riyadh with her daughter and
refuses to speak to the press.
EsinIslam.Com
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