Eurabia Alert from [1] AFP:

ZURICH -- Swiss prosecutors have charged a Pakistani man over the "honor killing" of his wife, according to legal documents published Wednesday [August 23].

Ajmal Butt Aziz, 24, is accused of murdering his 20-year-old wife Khudeja because she refused to follow Islamic tradition and wear a headscarf, according to the charge sheet published by the Corriere del Ticino newspaper.

Aziz's spouse died in July 2005 after he allegedly bludgeoned her to death with a hammer as she slept at the couple's home in Bellinzona, in Switzerland's southern canton of Ticino.

Born in Pakistan, Khudeja Aziz was brought up in Switzerland and was a citizen of the Alpine country.

Aziz claimed that he acted in self-defense after being attacked by his wife.

Prosecutors, however, alleged that he acted because he was opposed to his wife's Western lifestyle and her wish to find a job, and also that she was seeking a divorce.

No date has yet been set for Aziz's trial.