A BAHRAIN court will issue a judgement on June 28 in a case against women's rights activist Ghada Jamsheer, who is accused of verbally abusing the husband of a woman she supported in a custody battle. Yesterday was the second hearing in the case filed by the husband of Bahraini mother Badriya Rabea. He claims Ms Jamsheer called him an unfit husband and father in an abusive way. However, she denies the charges and her lawyer, Mohammed Al Mutawa, asked for the case to be dismissed due to lack of evidence.

Ms Rabea had lost custody of her two daughters Ghazlan, nine and Janat, seven, when she was declared an unfit mother in a sharia (Islamic) court back in 2003. The children were later taken away from her husband and custody given to Ms Rabea's mother. Mr Al Mutawa said that maternal grandmothers have right to custody after the mother under Sunni sharia law.

Ms Jamsheer also stands accused in two other cases of allegedly defaming three sharia judges in the media, distributing publications described as illegal and also calling a judge and swearing at him over the phone. She is accused of calling the judges backward, corrupt and careless. However, she has denied all the charges. Ms Jamsheer heads the Women's Petition Committee, a network of activists demanding the introduction of clearly defined family laws in Bahrain and reform of the country's family courts.

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