Afghan woman jailed after being raped is freed

Afghan woman jailed after being raped is freed

2011-12-15 19:45:30 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- An Afghan woman who was jailed after reporting she had been raped by a relative has been released from prison, her lawyer said on Wednesday. She faces no further legal action.

The 21-year-old woman, identified only as Gulnaz, was arrested on charges of adultery when she reported that she had been raped by her cousin's husband in 2009. She initially did not report the sexual assault but was forced to do so after showing signs of pregnancy.

Gulnaz was initially sentenced to two years in prison on the charge of having sex outside of marriage, but when she appealed it was increased to twelve years in prison. The most recent appeal saw her sentence being reduced to three years imprisonment.

But as the case gained international attention, Afghan President Hamid Karzai pardoned the woman earlier this month. Her lawyer, Kimberley Motley, told the BBC that Gulnaz was released without precondition and that she would not be forced to marry her attacker, as prosecutors had earlier demanded.

CNN reported that the woman was released earlier this week and is now staying at a women's shelter in Kabul with her daughter, who was born in jail. "She is now free to lead a normal life without the threat of further legal action," Motley said, as quoted by the BBC. "I hope this historic case will set a legal precedent for other persecuted women in Afghanistan."

Meanwhile, the sentence for the woman's attacker has been reduced from twelve to seven years imprisonment after a successful appeal. Prosecutors had argued that because the woman did not immediately report the rape, it was not possible to determine whether they had sex voluntarily outside of marriage or if she was raped.

The case of Gulnaz drew international attention to the plight of many Afghan women after the European Union blocked a documentary which featured her story. The documentary, which shows cases of Afghan women jailed for so-called 'moral crimes', was blocked because of concerns for the safety of the women portrayed.

Human rights groups say hundreds of women in Afghan jails are victims of rape or domestic violence.

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