Woman has suspended sentence confirmed on appeal, found guilty of aiding in abortion

Soumia Mansouri has had her suspended jail term confirmed on appeal after she originally pleaded guilty to assisting a pregnant woman to abort her seven-week-old foetus.

In November 2014, the accused was sentenced to a jail term of 18 months suspended for three years. The woman had filed an appeal, arguing that her admission of guilt was based on misinformation supplied by the prosecution. Mansouri contended that had she known the truth, she would have never pleaded guilty.

Back in November 2014, a woman was admitted to Mater Dei Hospital, at the emergency department, where she complained of "excruciating lower abdominal pain".

Upon closer inspection, medical staff found four hexagonal tablets that had been placed inside the patient's genitals. The patient admitted to inserting the tablets herself, she claimed to have obtained from Tunis as a form of pain relief.

A medical examination was then conducted on the patient, which confirmed that there was once a foetal heartbeat, which had stopped beating, resulting in an abortion. The patient had also admitted to having consumed and inserted the pills after they were passed on to her by the accused, for the purposes of an abortion.

Police were called to the hospital, and criminal proceedings were initiated against the accused. Upon her arraignment, the accused immediately admitted to the charge.

The court heard how the prosecution had provided an explanation about the criminal proceedings levelled against her and the consequences of her statement, after consulting medical experts.

The court of appeal therefore dismissed the accused's claim, commenting that the appeal was only filed because the accused had cold feet about her earlier admission of guilt.

Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti, presiding over the case, declared that the prosecution had followed the necessary procedure as laid out by the law. Criminal proceedings against the accused had been initiated based on information supplied by the woman who had the abortion and on the medically certified fact that a live pregnancy had once existed.

from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2g3mbUT
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