Nigerian court upholds woman's death by stoning

An Islamic high court in northern Nigeria rejected an appeal yesterday by a single mother sentenced to be stoned to death for having sex out of wedlock.

Clutching her baby daughter, Amina Lawal burst into tears as the judge delivered the ruling.

Lawal, 30, was first sentenced in March after giving birth more than nine months after divorcing.

"We uphold the judgment from the lower court," Judge Aliyu Abdullahi said on behalf of four judges at the Islamic high court at Funtua, in Nigeria's northern Katsina state.

Many of the 60 people who packed the small court room shouted "God is great" in the Hausa dialect, as Lawal wept.

The judge said the sentence would be carried out as soon as Lawal finishes breast feeding her baby. In June, the court postponed her execution until January 2004 for this reason.

Lawal was given 30 days to appeal the ruling and released on bail.

She declined to speak to journalists outside the court. Hiding behind her lawyer, she held her baby up to shield her face from photographers.

Her attorneys said they planned to file an appeal before the end of the day at the higher Katsina Shariah Court of Appeal.

If that fails, they can appeal to the Supreme Court, where the case would force a showdown between Nigeria's constitutional and religious authorities

The introduction of Islamic law, or Shariah, in a dozen northern states since 1999 has sparked clashes between the country's Christians and Muslims.

About 20 police armed with tear gas stood guard at the court entrance Monday, but there were no immediate reports of violence.

Lawal is the second Nigerian woman to be condemned to death for having sex out of wedlock under Islamic law. The first woman, Safiya Hussaini, had her sentence overturned in March on her first appeal.

At least two other women have faced similar charges. One case was dismissed in January, and the other is on hold until the woman is healthy enough to appear in court.

All the women have been poor, uneducated, single mothers from rural villages.

Lawal's conviction was upheld on the basis that she admitted to having sex outside marriage.

But her legal team argued she could not have knowingly made a confession because she did not understand the Arabic term for adultery, "zena."

The man Lawal identified as her baby's father denied the accusation and was acquitted in March for lack of evidence.

Most spectators in court Monday welcomed the ruling.

"This is a triumph of Allah's law against the enemies of Shariah," said Mohammed Radiu, 26, an Islamic studies student. "By this judgment, we are confident the government is serious about the implementation of Shariah."

Off–duty police sergeant Mohammed Radiu, 26, agreed.

"She had admitted her guilt. Even in a civil court, when you admit guilt, punishment will follow," she said.

But church leaders and human rights groups were dismayed by the ruling.

"The application of the Shariah is unconstitutional and we must not tolerate it further," John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, archbishop of Abuja, told the Italian–based missionary news service, MISNA.

Baobab, a women's group paying for Lawal's defense, said an appeal in a higher court could set a legal precedent for all Nigerian Shariah courts.

"But really we could have done without it," added Ndidi Ekekwe, a lawyer for the group. "For as long as this case lasts, the girl has a death sentence hanging over her head."

The London–based Amnesty International said it would ask the government to intercede after President Olusegun Obasanjo declared Shariah punishments such as beheadings, stonings and amputations unconstitutional.

"The practice of stoning to death is the ultimate form of torture, or cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment," the organization said in a statement. "... This sentence must not be carried out."