German Judge Says Woman Can’t Get Divorce, Men Have Right To Beat Their Women
No, that’s not an exaggeration. A German Judge has actually ruled that, because a man and woman are of Moroccan descent and are practicing Muslims, a controversial bit of the Koran which grants a man the right to hit his wife prevents them from getting a speedy divorce.
The case seems simply too strange to be true. A 26-year-old mother of two wanted to free herself from what had become a miserable and abusive marriage. The police had even been called to their apartment to separate the two—both of Moroccan origin—after her husband got violent in May 2006. The husband was forced to move out, but the terror continued: Even after they separated, the spurned husband threatened to kill his wife.
A quick divorce seemed to be the only solution—the 26-year-old was unwilling to wait the year between separation and divorce mandated by German law. She hoped that as soon as they were no longer married, her husband would leave her alone. Her lawyer, Barbara Becker-Rojczyk agreed and she filed for immediate divorce with a Frankfurt court last October. They both felt that the domestic violence and death threats easily fulfilled the “hardship” criteria necessary for such an accelerated split.
In January, though, a letter arrived from the judge adjudicating the case. The judge rejected the application for a speedy divorce by referring to a passage in the Koran that some have controversially interpreted to mean that a husband can beat his wife. It’s a supposed right which is the subject of intense debate among Muslim scholars and clerics alike."The exercise of the right to castigate does not fulfill the hardship criteria as defined by Paragraph 1565 (of German federal law),” the daily Frankfurter Rundschau quoted the judge’s letter as saying. It must be taken into account, the judge argued, that both man and wife have Moroccan backgrounds.
This seems a bit like an American judge ruling that it’s ok to kill a gay man because Leviticus 20:13 states “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”
So much for European enlightenment. And separation of church and state (though this is Germany, and not America).
Plus, what a perfect example of judicial tyranny. Here a judge has looked beyond the laws of the country and found some other authority with which to justify his ruling. That should be scary for anyone who values living in a free society.
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