 Her
story
Sentenced
to death by stoning for adultery after being arrested more than one
year ago, a young woman is now prisoner in an isolation cell inside
the jail of Kohat (
northwest Pakistan).
Zafran
Bibi, aged 26, is subjected to islamic law (sharia) and still in
danger of losing her life.
The
death sentence on her behalf was pronounced by the Islamic court of
Kohat last April, 17th 2002. The young pakistani woman,
who in the meantime gave birth to a daughter that she is now nursing
in prison, rejected the accusation, saying she was victim of a rape
carried out by her brother-in-law.
According
to Uzma Mehboob, legal adviser of the Aurat Institution, a local
organization struggling for women�s rights defence and which is
engaged to spare Zafran Bibi�s life, the young woman was raped by
her relative while her husband Naimat Khan was jailed for a
murder.
When
Zafran denounced the rape, her father-in-law, aiming to save his son,
accused her to have been carrying out a relation with another man,
with whom he is in rivalry. As for the Police, it ignored Zafran�s
denounce.
 Anyway,
Zafran�s husband has exculpate her, saying the baby is of his own.
Actually, he and Zafran, according to his witness, met one another
during the time of the conceiving, in spite of his detention, thanks
to an expedient arranged by him.
Due
to this crucial testimony, the Islamic Federal Court �whose duty
is checking that the sentences
delivered by judges are in compliance with Islamic law-
accepted the appeal advanced by Zafran�s legal adviser and decided
a stay of the penalty last May 6th.
The
jail director, Mohammed Anwar, said the woman will be put to death
by stoning if the court
would reject her appeal, but he added she would be probably
discharged. Actually, since 1979, the year that marks the
establishment of the death by stoning as a penalty inside pakistani
law, no woman has so far been put to death.
The
appeal to save Zafran
The
Community of Sant�Egidio invites everybody to share its appeal
aiming to spare Zafran�s life from death by stoning, sending the
following text to the major pakistani authorities or else by
diplomatic sites of Pakistan , as occurred in the past, by fax or
e-mail.
His
Excellency General Pervez Musharraf,
President
and Chief Executive of Islamic Republic of Pakistan
[email protected]
His
Excellency Dr. Khalid Ranjha,
Minister
of Law, Justice and Human Rights:
[email protected]
Fax
(dall'Italia): 0092-06997
|
URGENT
APPEAL PRESENTED BY THE COMMUNITY OF SANT�EGIDIO TO SAVE THE LIFE OF
ZAFRAN BIBI , SENTENCED TO DEATH BY STONING
Your
Excellencies
We
are writing to express our deep concern over a ruling that sentenced to
death by stoning Mrs.Zafran Bibi, now detained in the city of Kohat, after
finding her guilty of extra-conjugal relations.
We
urge you to intervene on her behalf to prevent this cruel and inhuman
punishment from being meted out against her.
We
implore you to ensure that this cruel and inhuman sentence is not carried
out.
Respectfully
Yours
(signature
and date)
|
|
the Community of Sant'Egidio
Abolitions, 