JEDDAH: Lawyers representing a couple whose marriage has been brought into question after the wife’s brothers filed a case that they were tribally incompatible have said they will speak to the brothers to resolve the case.
The lawyers said they would raise the possibility of speaking with the brothers in court tomorrow, something that has been welcomed by the couple.
Motasem Khashoggi, the lawyer heading the team, said as a first step, his team would clarify what the Shariah says on the matter. If the brothers do not accept, then the lawyers would seek justice by presenting legal documents, primarily the couple’s marriage contract.
Khashoggi asked who would benefit from separating the man and wife who wish to remain together. He added that this should be the last case of forcible divorce brought before a Saudi court, as there is no basis for it in Shariah.
The lawyer added that the court would take into consideration the abuse that the woman suffered from her half-brothers and the complaint she filed against one of them in Madinah.
Asked why the judge refused to accept the husband’s claim that his sister-in-law is married to a man who is not of the same Bedouin background, Khashoggi said this is a question that the judge should answer.
Responding to a report that the case has been brought by the half-brothers to force the woman to give them power of attorney over her share of their father’s inheritance, the lawyer said this has not been confirmed yet.
Khashoggi added that if this was the case then it would be a “catastrophe.” He also said this is the first case of the kind that he is dealing with.
The husband told Arab News how the presiding judge described him as “irrational.” He also denied stories published in some newspapers stating that he has children, saying he has only been married a month.
