Sudanese court sentences woman to death by stoning over adultery claims
July 15, 2012 (KHARTOUM) — A Sudanese court in Khartoum state sentenced a 23 year old woman to death by stoning for adultery, a human rights group, the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies, has reported(ACJPS).
Sudan is one of few countries that implements death by stoning as a punishment. Rights groups condemn this cruel method of execution because it is designed to torture the victim and increase their suffering.
On 10 July 2012, Judge Imad Shamoun of Al-Nasir Criminal Court in Khartoum sentenced a 23 year old woman to death by stoning for adultery (Zina) under Article 146 of the Sudanese Penal Code 1991, ACJPS said in a press statement.
The young woman, Ms. L.I.E, who did not have any legal assistance, pleaded guilty to the charge of adultery. International human rights law prohibits death sentences resulting from unfair trial.
L.I.E is a Misseiya woman residing in the Alizba area in Khartoum North. She is shackled by the legs and detained in an individual cell “giving rise to serious concerns about her welfare,” the group stressed.
Last April a woman called Intisar Sharif Abdalla was sentenced to death by stoning by the Ombada court, in Khartoum state, for adultery.
Women’s rights activists are outraged by the repetition of sentences of death by stoning against women and urged the court to overturn the sentence like the previous cases.
Fahima Hashim, a women’s rights activist, who followed Abdalla’s case, said sentences were often inconsistent in Sudan because the legal system gives judges the authority to decide punishments.
She called for the reform of articles in Sudan’s criminal code, which she said harm women’s rights, including the death by stoning.
The ACJPS urged the Sudanese government to overturn the sentence of death by stoning, which was applied in violation of both domestic and international law, and guarantee L.I.E’s immediate and unconditional release.
“Under Article 135(3) of the Sudanese Criminal Procedure Code 1991, a defendant is entitled to legal representation in any criminal case that carries a punishment of 10 years or more imprisonment, amputation or death,” the group said.
(ST)