The former English teacher was charged with assault last year for attacking her partner with a knife during a domestic dispute in which he received light facial injuries. A human rights activist involved with the case said she acted in self-defence. At Thursday's hearing she said it "shocked my world" when she was placed in a penal colony where she was put to work making artificial flowers for cemeteries and mortuaries. It was forced labour," she said, complaining no medical treatment was available except for headache tablets. Writing by Mark Trevelyan Editing by Raissa KasolowskyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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