Corpun file 17802
7days.ae, UAE, 4 July 2006
Confusion over lashes ruling
There is some confusion over the fate of two teenage girls sentenced to 61-lashes each for prostitution and adultery in Sharjah, with court sources telling 7DAYS that they may still escape their sentence after the prosecution's appeal for tougher punishments was rejected by the Federal Supreme Court.
"This sentence most likely would not be carried out as the girls' defence may still appeal," the source said yesterday. That contradicts local media reports yesterday that suggested the girls have already appealed their convictions at the highest level and lost, meaning the sentence would be carried out.
The two girls, Aiysha S, aged 15, and Noora E, 14-years-old, were arrested in March of 2005 after stripping to have sex with undercover police officers. The two girls, both Muslim and unmarried, were cleared of prostitution and adultery charges in Sharjah criminal court but then were convicted at the appeal court.
The Federal Supreme Court is the highest court you can be heard in and its rulings are final.
Corpun file 17801
Gulf News, Dubai, 5 July 2006
Mother to serve 30 months in jail for strangling newborn
By Mohammad Shamseddine
Staff Reporter
Abu Dhabi: A woman will serve two-and-a-half years in jail followed by deportation for strangling her newborn baby to death.
The woman, N.O., had an illicit affair with a man, identified as A.A., and got pregnant by him. When the time for delivering the baby approached, she decided to kill it to hide her shame.
N.O. told the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court that she managed to deliver the baby by herself, without any assistance. Following the birth, she strangled the baby with a piece of cloth and threw its body into a garbage skip outside her house.
A man, identified as S.B., found the baby's body in the skip and informed police, who investigated the case and detained N.O.
The court charged N.O. with murdering her child, and sentenced her to three years in jail followed by deportation.
The court also accused her of adultery and sentenced her to an additional six months in jail, in addition to 99 lashes followed by deportation.
N.O. first denied the charges but forensic tests proved otherwise. N.O. then appealed the sentence and told the court that the baby was born dead because she had delivered him without any help.
However, forensic reports again showed that the woman was lying the baby had been born alive.
N.O. finally confessed she killed her baby to hide her shame. The Federal Supreme Court turned down her appeal, but decreased the sentence to two years in jail and upheld the rest of the conviction.
