Jaafari religious court forces mother to hand her kids to father, despite right of custody

The stories of custody of children seem to be never-ending at the Sharia courts, Al Akhbar daily reported on Saturday. The newspaper reminded its readers, that not a long time ago, Khadija Naif was jailed at Gobeiri police station for trying to see her children. Two years before, Fatmeh Hamzeh, went to prison for refusing to hand her only son to his father. And today, Hana Awada, a mother of three, is witnessing a similar fate, through a ruling issued by the Jaafari Court that reportedly deprived her of her right to her children, the newspaper said. In the details, according to Al Akhbar, it all started two years ago, when Awada won a verdict to divorce her Iraqi husband, Omar Mashhadani. Earlier, Awada filed for divorce at the Al A’azamia Personal Status Court in Baghdad and won the right of custody of her children. She carried the Iraqi verdict to the Beirut Court of Appeal where it was given an executive power substantiating the custody of her children. Unfortunately, Al Akhbar concluded, the enveloping happiness the mother felt was stolen by the Jaafari Court which ordered her to hand over her three kids to their father, upon the latter’s request.  (Al Akhbar, June 1, 2019)