My best friend asked me to lie in court for her

Dear Delyara, My best friend is in a custody dispute. Last week, she asked me to say I had witnessed her ex-husband being violent toward their child. I did not. I know he has a temper. I know their marriage was ugly. I have seen her frightened. But I did not witness what she wants me to say. When I refused, she said, “So you don’t believe me?” That is not the same question. I told her I believe she is afraid and that I will speak truthfully about what I have actually seen. She called me cowardly and said I am choosing legal technicalities over a child’s safety. We have been friends since university. I held her baby the day he was born. She was beside me when my father died. Now one false sentence has become the test she thinks proves whether I ever loved her. I keep rereading her messages because maybe I am missing something. I am terrified that refusing could contribute to harm. I am equally terrified that lying could destroy someone else’s life and my own credibility. Friendship has never before asked me to choose between loyalty and truth while a child sits in the middle.