Michigan: Federal judge throws out female genital mutilation case against Muslim physicians

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman 1

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2021/10/michigan-federal-judge-throws-out-female-genital-mutilation-case-against-muslim-physicians;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

“Our clients have lost so much of their lives,” says the attorney for the FGM doctors.

Yes, and so have your clients’ victims. But now it appears that female genital mutilation can be practiced in America with impunity.

“‘This matter is vindictive’: Federal judge throws out landmark female genital mutilation case,” by Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press, September 28, 2021 (thanks to Darcy):

DETROIT — A federal judge on Tuesday threw out the nation’s first female genital mutilation case, delivering a major blow to the prosecution and survivors who had hoped the Detroit case would help end a practice that is still performed on millions of girls worldwide.

In dismissing the four-year-old case, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman concluded the prosecution was vindictive in seeking new charges against the accused, who had previously convinced the judge to declare the federal female genital mutilation ban as unconstitutional.

“The court concludes that the prosecution in this matter is vindictive. The government obtained the fourth superseding indictment, which asserts new and additional charges, in retaliation for defendants’ past success in having other charges dismissed,” Friedman wrote in his ruling. “Such vindictive or retaliatory prosecution is a due process violation of the most basic sort.”

The lead defendant is Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, whom prosecutors allege cut the genitals of nine minor girls during after-hours procedures at a Livonia clinic that belonged to her doctor friend, who also was charged in the case. Nagarwala has long denied engaging in genital mutilation, saying the procedure she performed on minor girls was a benign, religious practice that involved only scraping or “shaving” of the genitalia, not cutting.

Nagarwala’s attorney, Shannon Smith, applauded Friedman’s ruling, but called the ending of this case “bittersweet.”

“Yes, they’ve won, but they’ve never been vindicated in court. Those things never happened. The things the government alleged never happened,” Smith said. “Our clients have lost so much of their lives. The impact on their lives has been unspeakable. It’s hard. They’ve gone through half a decade of being charged and living under these charges.”

Smith also expressed frustration with much of the case being sealed.

“I’m not surprised with how it ended. But what’s really sad is that so much of the case is under seal and is not available to the public,” Smith said. “I can understand why people reading about this are going to be so upset and confused and not understand … but so much of the case is under seal.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined comment Tuesday, noting it has not yet reviewed the judge’s ruling, which essentially ends the case unless the government appeals.

The case involves nine girls, ages 7 to 12, from Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota, including some who cried, screamed and bled during the procedure and one who was given Valium ground in liquid Tylenol to keep her calm, court records show.

Among the accused were three mothers, including two Minnesota women whom prosecutors said tricked their 7-year-old daughters into thinking they were coming to metro Detroit for a girls’ weekend, but instead had their genitals cut at the Livonia clinic as part of a religious procedure….