A writ of habeas corpus, aimed at winning the release from jail of the young Cape Verdian woman who abandoned her newborn son in a recycling bin (click here), has been rejected.
Lawyers representing the 22-year-old argued that her detention is illegal. They said she should be being charged with ‘exposing a minor to abandonment’ or ‘infanticide’, neither of which imply being held on remand.
But the bid failed to sway judges at the Supreme Tribunal of Justice who stressed the young woman is being cited for attempted murder, not exposure to abandonment or even infanticide – both of which usually involve ‘post-partum disturbance’, which judges accepted doesn’t appear to have been at issue here.
In other words, the court believes the baby’s mother acted with premeditation, and that being held in preventive custody is therefore not illegal.
Meantime, the little boy plucked from what would otherwise have been death from hypothermia continues to thrive and is almost ready to be fostered, pending adoption.
Earlier this week, the mother’s lawyers issued a statement saying their client “was grateful for all the support shown in the last few days through social media” but that she would like to be allowed to “calmly await the outcome of the judicial process, in the certainty that everything will be clarified in its own place and in due time”.
