Nigeria: Amina Lawal acquitted - New Stoning sentence in Bauchi State

Amina Lawal Kurami is free - but the fight for the ban of Islamic criminal law in Nigeria's northern states has to continue!

In yesterday's appeal hearing (25 September 2003), the Katsina State Sharia Court lifted the death sentence of Amina Lawal Kurami. In a split decision, four of the five judges upheld the three major grounds of the appeal given by her lawyers. They recognized that there had been lack of evidence for adultery (pregnancy out of wedlock is not sufficient proof for adultery), that her confession in the first court had not been in accordance with the law and 3) that her right of defence had not been duely respected. The judgement was received with great relief.

Only a few minutes after Amina Lawal's acquittal in Katsina, another stoning-to-death sentence was handed down in the neighboring Bauchi state. Jibrin Babaji, 20, was condemned for sodomy. It is alledged that he had sexual relations with three minor boys.

A major part of Nigeria's population, even in the predominantly Muslim north states, is worried about the re-implementation of Sharia criminal law and wants the move to be reversed. There was broad support for Amina Lawal. A congress of civil rights groups, held in Kaduna last week, organised demonstrations and hunger strikes and called for acts of civil disobedience all over the country, if the court failed to set her free. The government is facing strong criticism for turning a blind eye to the re-implementation of Sharia. The Nigerian Constitution of 1999 guarantees fundamental freedom and provides the option to challenge laws violating it. President Obasanjo had not only the opportunity, but also the responsibility to use this option. Mr. Nwachekwu Ika, senior lawyer and head of the Civil Liberties Organisation CLO, makes it very clear: "Executing the jurisdiction of Sharia to cover criminal matters is unconstitutional", he said. "The governmnet seems to have abdicated its responsibility."

The re-implementation of Sharia comes along with other alarming signs of creeping Islamization. A recent decree forces all Muslim girls in the north state Badijo to wear head scarves at school. Christians are afraid that the new order could even be extended to the non-Muslim minority, as the decree reads 'all female students'.