The life of a 21-year-old mother has been spared shortly before she was due to face a firing squad as appeals by British ministers and others prompted the Yemeni President to suspend the execution.

Amina al-Abduladif’s lawyer was with her in prison when the last-minute reprieve came. Shada Nasir said: “She was shaking and crying. She had said her prayers and her farewells and was sure she was going to die. What we don’t know is whether the execution has been delayed for a day or a week as no one will tell us.

Officials in the capital, Sanaa, said President Ali Abdullah Saleh was “moved” when he learned of the plight of Mrs Abduladif, who was convicted of murdering her husband when she was 16 despite insisting that her confession was forced from her under torture.

The President has asked justice ministers to look again at her case and her lawyers are demanding a new trial.

For the moment, Mrs Abduladif remains on death row with her two-year-old son, who was born in jail after she was allegedly raped by a prison guard. She had gone on a hunger strike after a prison official told her he had read in a newspaper that her execution date had been set for Monday.

“I have pleaded with her to eat something and to have hope,” Ms Nasir said. “She is very grateful for all those abroad who protested about her case. We believe it was this international intervention that saved her…link

There have been previous diaries on this subject, and susanbhu in particular has worked very hard on gathering addresses and what information is available on Amina’s case. Susan also hates diaries that just have a news story and not much else, but maybe she will forgive me in this case.

Anyway, keep those cards and faxes going, folks!

Tell Saleh he did the right thing. You know Yemen doesn’t want to look barbaric like the US 😉

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