A Sydney mother is unable to leave Lebanon after her husband's family alerted authorities there that she was visiting her boyfriend.
Mahassen Issa, 29, was due to return home to her two sons, aged six and nine, when she was charged with adultery over the weekend.
“I’m in a huge panic and I have no one to turn to. My family has disowned me. We have been receiving threats, my partner has received threats,’’ Ms Issa told News Corp.
Ms Issa had been visiting her boyfriend Mohammad Awick in Lebanon when her husband's family raised the charges. They say they believe "she's getting what she deserves".
Ms Issa says she separated from her husband in September 2013, but her husband claims they were together until April 2014. Divorce proceedings have not been initiated.
The couple's two children are living with their father in western Sydney.
Ms Issa faces up to six months in jail if convicted, News Corp reports. She was born in Sydney.
An Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman confirmed to Fairfax Media it was providing assistance to an Australian woman in Beirut but declined to comment further, including whether or not Ms Issa was a Lebanese citizen.
Dr Minerva Naser-Eddine, a lecturer at the Australian National University's Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies, told Fairfax Media it was likely Ms Issa was a Lebanese citizen.
“Within Lebanon there is a civil legal code which everyone needs to clearly abide by, and then there are religious courts that exist for each group in Lebanon. She is probably being charged by an Islamic court,” Ms Naser-Eddine said.
"Her citizenship will play a role in how the local authorities and courts treat her."
Ms Issa said she would face court in Tripoli on Thursday.
More to come.
