World : IN BRIEF : JORDAN : Candidate Faces Religious Charges

A Muslim religious court heard charges of apostasy, or abandonment of religious faith, against a women’s rights advocate running for Parliament. Islamic conservatives prosecuting Toujan Faisal, one of 12 female candidates in next month’s general election, want the Islamic court in Amman to declare her incompetent, dissolve her marriage and give immunity to anyone shedding her blood. Faisal, 40, is a former television journalist who aired topics such as child abuse and wife beating. Women received the right to vote and run for Parliament in 1974, but no woman has run in any of the by-elections held since. Next month’s election is the first national poll since 1967. The judge set a hearing for Nov. 9, one day after the election, to rule on the court’s competence to deal with the case.