Hands Off Cain
NEWS ARCHIVE·DEATH PENALTY·FEBRUARY 2, 2002
Australia

A Somali woman facing execution by stoning for adultery...

A Somali woman facing execution by stoning for adultery won a reprieve from the Federal Court from deportation to her homeland

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A Somali woman facing execution by stoning for adultery won a reprieve from the Federal Court from deportation to her homeland.
The 26-year-old woman arrived in Australia via Italy in early 2001. She had acquired a false Australian passport which she had destroyed, under instruction, before her plane landed. She claimed refugee status, on the basis that she had been forced by her parents to marry a wealthy, 60-year-old man and had not been told about the arranged marriage until the day before it occurred.
Her husband, who had forced her to have sex, had later found her in bed with her former boyfriend and notified the authorities. An Islamic court sentenced her to death for adultery. Her boyfriend was sentenced to 100 lashes. She escaped Somalia with the help of her boyfriend's half-brother.
The Refugee Review Tribunal, which considered the case after immigration officials refused her request for a protection visa, found much of her story to be implausible or vague. The tribunal rejected her claims. But the court upheld the appeal and ordered a differently constituted tribunal to reconsider the case according to law.
SOURCES
  • (Sources: Canberra Times, 02/02/2002)