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Filipina maid held in

UAE may be freed by July

MANILA: A Filipina maid jailed in the United Arab Emirates for killing her employer might be released in July, three months before her one-year prison term is completed, the Philippine ambassador to the UAE said on Tuesday.

"The good news is that Sarah (Balabagan) may be released from the jail in July because she showed good behaviour," Roy Seneres told reporters.

Balabagan, who turned 17 on March 8, was sentenced to one year in prison and 100 lashes last October by a Sharia appeal court for killing her employer Almas Mohammed al-Baloushi. She said she acted in self-defence as he tried to rape her.

Balabagan paid the victim's family 150,000 dirhams ($41,000) in return for their agreement to drop their insistence that an earlier death sentence be carried out.

The original court verdict drew international condemnation.-Reuter