Daily Trust  -

NIGERIA: Sokoto Adulteress Appeals Against Death Sentence

From Musa Kazaure and Abdulfatai Abdusalau, in Sokoto Hajiya Safiyatu Husseini of Tungar Tudu in Gwadabawa Local Government Area of Sokoto State, who was sentenced to death by stoning at a Gwadabawa Sharia court in Sokoto State has appealed against her conviction.

In an exparte motion filed by her counsel, Barrister Abdulkadir Iman Ibrahim, on the 25th of October, 2001, Hajiya Safiyatu is seeking for a stay of execution of the judgment until the determination of her appeal at the Sokoto Sharia court of appeal.

"We are determined to raise legal arguments that will eventually expose the lapses in the procedures which resulted in the sentencing of our client," Mallam Abdulkadir told Daily Trust in Sokoto at the weekend.

While expressing confidence that his client would be eventually discharged and acquitted, the counsel declared that his legal team was only interested in the freedom of the woman "and would do everything possible within the Islamic legal system to ensure this at the appeal."

 The suit for stay of execution of judgment is slated for the 27th of this month at the Sokoto State Sharia court of appeal.

 It will be recalled that the Gwadabawa Upper Sharia Court presided over by Khadi Mohammadu Bello had earlier sentenced Safiyatu Husseini to death by stoning for committing adultery in accordance with the Sharia law of Sokoto State. She was, however, given a grace-period of 30 days within which to appeal against the sentence.

 Daily Trust investigations revealed that many Human Rights Organisations, including the Women's Rights Advancement and Protection Association (WRAPA) as well as some lawyers from Abuja, are making frantic efforts to save the convict from certain death.

 Speaking on the sentence in Abuja at the weekend, the Senate President, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, deplored the selective punishment meted to the convict and the acquittal of the man for lack of evidence.

 Anyim, who spoke at the First Nigeria Human Rights Summit, said "the selective justice was an affront on the universal concept of promotion and protection of human rights and added that his views were not an opinion on the merits or demerits of the Shari'a legal system. Feelers reaching Daily Trust indicate that the Federal Ministry of Justice has expressed interest in the case and is following the case with keen interest.

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NIGERIA: Senate President Condemns Woman's Death Sentence

Nigeria's Senate president Anyim Pius Anyim on Thursday condemned a ruling by an Islamic court in northern Nigeria that sentenced a woman to death by stoning after finding her guilty of having pre-marital sex, news reports said.

According to Anyim, the sentence was reprehensible because it reflected elements of "selective justice" since the man was exonerated, the 'Guardian' newspaper reported. Anyim was speaking at the country's 1st human rights summit in the capital Abuja.

"For avoidance of doubt, this is not an opinion on merit or demerit of Sharia Court system. However, I am worried by the selective punishment of the woman adulteress and selective acquittal of the male adulterer for want of evidence by the presiding judge," he said.

The sentence has also drawn condemnation from local and international human rights organisations. The local media reported on Wednesday that Nigeria's federal ministry of women affairs had filed an appeal at the state's Sharia Appeal Court. The woman, Safiya Hussaini Tungar-Tudu who is pregnant, has also appealed against the ruling.