Mother appeals against death by stoning sentence

Baby in her arms, a single mother condemned by an Islamic court to death by stoning appeared in a Nigerian court today today to appeal against the sentence that has drawn an international outcry.

Amina Lawal, 32, in blue and brown dress and pink veil, seemed overwhelmed at the crush of riot police and journalists. “All these cameras, all these policemen,” she said, tears in her eyes, as she made her way inside.

Thirty-five riot police ringed the court in Katsina, the heaviest security yet in what has been more than a year of off-and-on hearings.

Lawal was convicted in March 2002 after the birth of her daughter, Wasila, out of wedlock. An Islamic court found her guilty of adultery even though her baby was born more than two years after her divorce.

Under Islamic laws, or Shariah, adopted in a dozen predominantly Muslim northern Nigerian states, judges ordered Lawal buried up to her neck in sand and then stoned to death.

The alleged father of the baby denied responsibility and was acquitted.

Judges have postponed carrying out Lawal’s sentence until her child is weaned.

“Amina is very worried. Sometimes she can’t eat. She wants to see the end of this case so that she can marry and have a normal life,” her uncle, 50-year-old Magaji Liman, said.

Officials of Katsina state have insisted the case go through the judicial appeals process despite requests by Nigeria’s federal government that Lawal be freed.

Lawal’s lawyers were due to present defence arguments at today’s hearings. It had been unclear whether the hearing would even be held.

Past hearings have repeatedly been cancelled, in what some have suspected is an attempt to deflect attention following international campaigns by rights movements and women’s groups.