Court upholds ruling against violator of female circumcision ban

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Wednesday October 4, 2006

Stockholm- A Swedish appeals court upheld a four-year jail term for a 41-year-old Somalia-born man convicted of violating a ban against female circumcision. The man was found guilty of taking his then 12-year-old daughter to Somalia in 2001 where she underwent the painful procedure.

The appeals court ruling in the west-coast city Gothenburg upheld a district court ruling announced in June.

It was the first time a court has ruled on female circumcision in Sweden since the law banning the procedure was adopted in 1982.

In 1999, the law was amended to make it an offence to take the victim to another country and carry out the procedure there.

Earlier this week, a 42-year-old woman was sentenced by a district court in the west-coast city Molndal to three years imprisonment for violating the same ban.

Female circumcision most often occurs in African countries, but is also practised in several Middle Eastern countries.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency