Denver Journal of International Law & Policy Volume 28 Number 2 Spring Article 3 May 2020 Islamic Law across Cultural Borders: The Involvement of Western Nationals in Saudi Murder Trials Hossin Esmaeili Jeremy Gans Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/djilp Recommended Citation Hossin Esmaeili & Jeremy Gans, Islamic Law across Cultural Borders: The Involvement of Western Nationals in Saudi Murder Trials, 28 Denv. J. Int'l L. & Pol'y 145 (2000). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Denver Journal of International Law & Policy by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. ISLAMIC LAW ACROSS CULTURAL BORDERS: THE INVOLVEMENT OF WESTERN NATIONALS IN SAUDI MURDER TRIALS HOSSEIN ESMAEILI AND JEREMY GANS* I. INTRODUCTION On 11 December 1996, a 51-year-old Australian nurse, Yvonne Gil- ford was found dead in her room in the King Fahd Military Medical Complex in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.! Within days, two British nurses, Deborah Parry and Lucille McLauchlin, were detained by Saudi au- thorities and later tried and convicted for Gilford's murder.2 These in- cidents spawned a familiar tale of international diplomacy: two gov- ernments, facing conflicting domestic pressures when the nationals of one country are subjected to the laws of another, solve their problem at the executive level once the criminal justice system proceeds to the pu- nitive stage. This culminated in the release of both nurses and their deportation to Britain on May 19 1998.s However, the outcome of the Gilford trial also turned on an unusual legal circumstance: the eventual resolution was dependant on a decision by a citizen of a third country, Frank Gilford, a resident of Australia, whose only connection to the events was that he was the victim's * Dr.