19.03.02

Safiya Knows Fate March 25

The Sokoto State Sharia Appeal Court, yesterday, fixed March 25 for judgment in the case of Safiya Husseini-Tungar Tudu, who was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery by an upper Sharia court.

 The state counsel, Mallam Mohammed Bara'u, urged the court to uphold the judgment passed on Safiya by the upper sharia court in Gwadabawa in October 2001.

 Quoting from the Holy Qur'an and the Hadith of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, Bara'u said ``stoning is mandatory to anybody who commits adultery, man or woman, who was once married''.

 "Therefore, I am urging the court to consider that the judgment passed on the appelant was valid as contained in the prophet's Hadith'', he added.

 Bara'u also debunked the defence lawyers' submission that a woman could be pregnant up to seven years after being divorced.

 On the submission that Safiya did not present herself to the court and confessed to being pregnant out of wedlock, Bara'u said ``based on various Qur'anic injunctions and Hadiths, she doesn't have to present herself to the court before conviction''.

 On the withdrawal of the confession of adultery by Safiya's lawyer, Bara'u said ``it is invalid because you can't withdraw the confession of adultery if a pregnancy appears''.

 "Pregnancy itself is a conclusive evidence of the offence of adultery and if it is not pregnancy, it can be withdrawn and the court will agree'', he added.

 Bara'u said "finally, I want to show the court that the punishment of HADD (RAJM) was contained in the Holy Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad passed similar punishments, so also the caliphs who succeeded him''.

 Addressing the court, the leading defence counsel, Mallam Abdulkadir Imam, said "the Gwadabawa lower court did not explain the meaning of Zina to Safiya, as it is an Arabic word, while Safiya is a villager''.

 "This can make the appeal court to strike the ruling, discharge and acquit Safiya'', he added.

 Imam, leading 10 other leaders, said "nowhere in the judgment of the Gwadabawa court was it explained to the appelant that she committed adultery. This was contained in the records of proceedings''.

 He maintained that the lower court in Gwadabawa had the jurisdiction to try the case, adding that ``the claim that it did not discover that Safiya is a divorcee is baseless''.

 He said "the court should dismiss the submissions of the state counsel which were not in order and do not conform with the Islamic law''.

The judge, Alhaji Bello Silame, leading three other khadis, adjourned the case till March 25.

Safiya was sentenced to death by stoning on October 19, 2001 by the upper sharia court, Gwadabawa. She later gave birth to a baby girl, Adama, in February 2001.

Safiya filed an appeal against the sentence on January 14 in the Sokoto State Sharia Appeal Court.

Sokoto 'Adultress' Case Adjourns to March 25

Daily Trust (Abuja)

March 19, 2002

Abdulfatai Abdulsalami with Agency Report

Safiya Husseini convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning by an Islamic court in Sokoto must wait a further week to know the outcome of her appeal.

The four judges at the Sokoto Court of Appeal ruled yesterday that a decision would be made next Monday.

 Safiya's case has provoked widespread international concern and calls for clemency.

 During the sitting, the state counsel, Barrister Muhammed Barau Kamarawa, recalled that on February 14, this year, Barrister Abdulkadir Imam, the defence counsel, told the court that the adultery charge against Safiyat was baseless, which he responded to by arguing that "it's far from the truth."

 Barrister Barau said Safiya definitely committed the said offence, citing instance of line 15-20, page one (1) of the case file where Safiya's confession was made, adding that page 2 line 1-7 indicate clearly that careful explanation was given to the appellant.

 On the issue of lack of jurisdiction raised by the defence counsel during the last sitting, the state counsel explained that based on section 4, sub-sections 6 and 7 of the 1999 constitution, the Upper Sharia court according to him, has jurisdiction to try the case in question.

 On the argument put forward by the defence counsel that Safiya is a divorcee, the state counsel refuted the claim as "baseless," adding that the Upper Sharia Court, Gwadabawa, did an in-depth investigation on the case.