A Sudanese woman charged with adultery has had her life spared but will instead spend six months behind bars after she admitted to kissing a man.
The 20-year-old was initially sentenced to death by stoning, sparking an international outcry.
She was arrested by police after her cousin killed her boyfriend.
The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) described the initial penalty as a “grave violation of international law”.
The divorcee was sentenced to death after she was found guilty of adultery by a court in the city of Kosti, in Sudan’s White Nile state.
Following international condemnation, the White Nile state court retried the case. Ultimately, the presiding judge changed the charge from “adultery” to an “obscene act” which meant she would instead serve prison time for her actions.
She confessed in court to being with a man and admitted that the pair had kissed.
Her lawyer, Intisar Abdullah, said the judge “didn’t have many options but to convict her”.
“The thing is she confessed at the court that she was with a man, she is very young and she doesn’t know the complications of the case,” the lawyer explained.
