Mother appeals against death by stoning sentence

An Islamic appeals court in northern Nigeria was today deciding the fate of a single mother facing death by stoning for adultery in a case that has drawn international outrage.

Lawyers for Amina Lawal said they were confident of an acquittal. If the sentence is carried out, the 32-year-old would become the first woman stoned to death since 12 northern states first began adopting strict Islamic law, or Shariah, in 1999.

“We are hopeful that the rule of law will be upheld,” said defines lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim. “We are hopeful that justice will triumph.”

Appearing calm and composed, Lawal entered the court in Katsina wrapped in a light orange veil and cradling her near two-year-old daughter, Wasila.

“I’m OK. I’m just hoping for the best,” she said, before lawyers took her to a side room to wait for the appeal to start.

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

Few believe the brutal sentence – in which Lawal would be buried up to her neck in sand and executed by stoning – will ever be carried out.

“We think the death penalty for adultery is contrary to the Nigerian constitution,” said Francois Cantier, a lawyer with French group Lawyers Without Borders, who is advising the defence.

“We think that death by stoning is contrary to international treaties against torture which Nigeria has ratified. We think that death by stoning is degrading human treatment.”

A five-judge panel was expected to announce its ruling today at the Katsina State Shariah Court of Appeals, a single-storey, mustard-coloured building heavily guarded by police.

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 a year ago.

Lawal remains free pending a final verdict. Judges say she would not be executed until she finishes breast-feeding her baby in January 2004.

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

Five people apart from Lawal have been sentenced to stoning deaths 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.

Many Katsina residents believed the sentence should be carried out if she was found guilty.

“If she’s stoned to death, there’s nothing wrong with that,” said Usman Garba, a 40-year-old civil servant. “It’s stipulated by Islam, and she’s a Muslim. It would be a good thing.”

Prosecutors argue Lawal’s child is living proof she committed a crime under Shariah, but Yawuri said the defines 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.

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.