Mukhtar Mai, 36, has won international praise for speaking out against her June 2002 assault, which highlighted brutal forms of tribal justice still prevalent in parts of the Muslim country. Rights activists have accused the government of trying to silence her.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf [Images] recently barred Mai from visiting the United States to talk about her case but lifted the ban after Washington protested.

Mai came from her home in Meerwala, a village 350 miles southwest of Islamabad, to attend Monday's hearing. She told reporters she expected the nation's highest court to uphold the original verdict in the case.

"I am expecting the Supreme Court to give the same kind of ruling," Mai, wearing a yellow scarf over her head, said outside the courtroom.

The panel of three judges adjourned until Tuesday after hearing initial arguments on whether Pakistan's top Islamic court � Federal Shariat Court � had jurisdiction in the case.

In June 2002, a council of elders in Meerwala ordered Mai's rape as punishment for her 13-year-old brother's alleged affair with another woman. Mai says the allegation was fabricated to cover up a sexual assault against the boy by men from the woman's Mastoi clan.

Eschewing a culture of shame that often surrounds rape victims in Pakistan, Mai spoke out, leading to the conviction of six men, who were sentenced to death. Eight others were acquitted.

But in March the High Court overturned the convictions of five of the men, and reduced the death sentence of the sixth to life in prison, citing a lack of evidence.

The Islamic court then reinstated the original convictions. But the Supreme Court struck down that ruling and said it would hear Mai's appeal itself.

Aitzaz Ahsan, a lawyer for Mai, said she also was appealing the eight men's acquittals.

"We do not want to prolong the matter. We pray to the Supreme Court to settle the issue as soon as possible so that the case does not go to the Shariat (Islamic court) and other courts," Ahsan said after the hearing.

Since her assault, Mai has become a prominent women's rights activist. Although she grew up illiterate herself, Mai has helped set up a school for girls in her village, mainly with donations from supporters, many of them in the United States.

Before leaving for Islamabad on Sunday, Mai reiterated complaints that police were shadowing her, which authorities claim is for her own protection.

"Are free people like this? I am not being allowed to speak with people," Mai told reporters at the airport in the city of Multan, surrounded by dozens of police.

"Right now I just have one (wish) that, God willing, there is a good decision in the case ... like the first decision," Mai said in an interview in her village in Punjab province.

"They should get the same punishment ... the death penalty." Asked if she could ever imagine reconciliation with the men who attacked her, Mai said that would be impossible. "I cannot do that; I cannot do that at any cost," she said.

Mai had planned to travel to the United States at the invitation of a nongovernment group to talk about her case earlier this month, but was blocked by the Pakistan government.

On a recent trip abroad, Musharraf said he personally ordered the travel ban on Mai because foreign groups wanted her "to bad-mouth Pakistan" over the "terrible state" of the nation's women. He said it was an unfair perception of the country.

The ban drew a stinging rebuke from Washington, a strong supporter of the Pakistani military leader for his help in the war on terrorism.

More reports from Pakistan

On Monday, Mai said the government had returned her passport, but she hadn't yet decided if she would travel abroad.