Mother spared death by stoning

AN Islamic appeals court in Nigeria yesterday acquitted a single mother who faced death by stoning for adultery in a case that has drawn international outrage.

A five-judge panel rejected Amina Lawal's conviction, saying she was not given "ample opportunity to defend herself."

If the sentence had been carried out, the 32-year-old would have been the first woman stoned to death since 12 northern states first began adopting strict Islamic law, or Shariah, in 1999.

In an hour-long ruling, the panel said Lawal was not caught in the act of adultery and wasn't given enough time to understand the charges against her.

It also cited procedural errors, including that only one judge was present at her initial conviction in March 2002, instead of the three required under Islamic law.

The case had drawn sharp criticism from international rights groups. President Olusegun Obasanjo's government and world leaders had called for Lawal to be spared. Last week, Brazil even offered her asylum.

Few believed the brutal sentence in which Lawal would have been buried up to her neck in sand and executed by stoning would ever be carried out.

The panel announced its ruling at the Katsina State Shariah Court of Appeals, a building heavily guarded by police.

Lawal, wrapped in a light orange veil, sat on a stone bench, eyes downcast, cradling her near two-year-old daughter.

Lawal was first convicted in March 2002 following the birth of her daughter two years after she divorced her husband. Judges rejected Lawal's first appeal in August 2002.

The introduction of strict Islamic law in a dozen northern states triggered violent clashes between Christians and Muslims that killed thousands.

Five people have been sentenced to death by stoning so far. Two have been acquitted, and two others a pair of lovers are still awaiting rulings.

Also under Shariah punishments, one man has been hanged for killing a woman and her two children. Muslim authorities have amputated the hands of three others for stealing respectively, a goat, a cow and three bicycles.

Despite such harsh sentences, the majority of Muslims in the predominantly Islamic north have welcomed the implementation of Shariah, saying it's a key part of their religion and discourages crime.

Prosecutors argued Lawal's child was living proof she committed a crime under Shariah, but lead defence lawyer Aliyu Musa Yawuri said he had "very strong grounds for appeal."

Yawuri said under some interpretations of Shariah, babies can remain in gestation in a mother's womb for five years, opening the possibility her ex-husband could have fathered the child.

He also argued Lawal's case should be dropped because no lawyers were present when she first testified she'd slept with another man following her divorce.

Lawal has identified her alleged sexual partner, Yahaya Mohammed, and said he promised to marry her. Mohammed, who would also have faced a stoning sentence, has denied any impropriety and has been acquitted for lack of evidence.