Amina di nuovo di fronte alla Corte.

OSSERVATORI E MEDIA INTERNAZIONALI ACCORSI PER L'UDIENZA

LAGOS, 26 AGO - Amina Lawal, la donna nigeriana condannata alla lapidazione per aver avuto una figlia al di fuori del matrimonio, comparira' domani davanti ad una corte nel nord della Nigeria chiamata a riesaminare il suo caso.

Osservatori internazionali e avvocati nigeriani di grido sono accorsi a Katsina (citta' nel nord della Nigeria) per seguire l' udienza d'appello contro questa donna di 31 anni, madre di tre figli. Amina, era stata condannata nel marzo 2002 alla lapidazione dal tribunale islamico di Bakoro (Stato di Katsina) per ''adulterio'', avendo avuto dopo il divorzio rapporti con un altro uomo da cui e' nata una bambina, Wasila, che ora ha un anno e mezzo. La data dell'esecuzione di Amina e' gia' fissata per il 25 settembre, alla fine del periodo di allattamento di Wasila.$Il caso di Amina ha suscitato scalpore e indignazione anche in Italia dove l'opinione pubblica si era mobilitata per la sua assoluzione.

Quello di Amina e' si' un caso giudiziario ma soprattutto politico. Rientra nel braccio di ferro in atto tra il governo federale ed i 12 Stati del nord della Nigeria che tre anni fa hanno deciso di introdurre la legge islamica (Sharia), in contrasto con i 24 del centro e del sud del paese, dove prevale il cristianesimo o l'antica religione animista.

Attraverso la Sharia gli Stati del nord intendono affermare la propria autonomia. Diverse condanne alla lapidazione sono state emesse in Nigeria dalla reintroduzione della sharia nell' anno 2000 ma finora nessuna sentenza e' stata eseguita. Ha raggiunto notorieta' internazionale il caso di Safiya Hussaini Tungar Tudu, un'altra nigeriana condannata alla lapidazione per avere avuto un figlio al di fuori del matrimonio. Safiya venne assolta l'anno scorso anche grazie alle pressioni internazionali e poi ricevuta dal sindaco di Roma Walter Veltroni, che l'ha nominata cittadina onoraria della capitale.$La settimana scorsa era stata annullata la condanna a morte per lapidazione emessa contro un nigeriano di 54 anni, Sarimu Mohamed, l'unico uomo cui in Nigeria sia stata inflitta tale pena, pronunciata finora solo nei confronti di donne. L'uomo era stata condannato per aver violentato una bambina.

Il caso Amina mette seriamente in imbarazzo il governo federale del presidente nigeriano Olusegun Obasanjo, stretto tra le pressioni internazionali e la popolazione musulmana che rappresenta quasi la meta' dei 120 milioni di nigeriani.$Obasanjo, che ha promesso che le corti di appello federali annulleranno ogni condanna a morte per lapidazione, spera tuttavia che i giudici islamici di Katsina assolvano Amina prima che la procedura arrivi a livello federale.$Gruppi femministi e gli avvocati della donna cercano di convincere la corte che, nel quadro dell'applicazione della legge islamica, sono stati commessi errori di fondo e procedurali. I difensori di Amina sostengono che il primo processo e' stato ingiusto perche' la condanna si basa su una testimonianza non affidabile. La donna - sostengono gli avvocati - e' inoltre stata giudicata da un solo magistrato invece che da tre come prevede la legge.

Gli avvocati aggiungono che la donna non era in grado di comprendere le accuse e di afferrarne le conseguenze durante il processo. Affermano infine che Amina, divorziata, era gia' incinta quando la Sharia e' entrata in vigore nello Stato di Katsina e che l'''adulterio'' era dunque precedente. Secondo la legge in vigore nel nord della Nigeria prima della Sharia l'adulterio era punibile con pene detentive.

Un primo appello, presentato nell'agosto 2002 in favore di Amina, era stata respinto dalla corte islamica di Funtua (nord).

Gli avvocati della donna avevano allora deciso di presentare appello davanti alla corte islamica dello stato a Katsina. Il processo d'appello, che inizialmente avrebbe dovuto iniziare in marzo, era stato rinviato prima al 3 giugno, poi al 27 agosto.

Nigerian mum Amina Lawal to launch new stoning appeal

KATSINA, Nigeria  - Nigerian mother Amina Lawal was to launch an appeal before an Islamic court against her conviction for adultery, under which she faces death by stoning. 

Lawal, 31, was convicted in May last year when fellow villagers in the northern Nigerian state of Katsina denounced her as an adulteress after she bore her fourth child out of wedlock.

 She will appear before Katsina Sharia Appeal court to lodge an appeal against her conviction, her lawyers said Tuesday. No verdict is expected Wednesday, but the defence hopes to make its case. 

Lawal, a village housewife from the tiny farming community of Kurami, was convicted after giving birth to her daughter Wasila more than two years after her divorce from her first husband. 

The man alleged to have been her lover swore on the Koran that he was not the father and was cleared of adultery, a term which under Islamic applies to any relations with an unmarried divorcee. 

But Lawal was convicted and her first appeal was rejected by a district Sharia court. 

Since then, backed by international campaigners and Nigerian groups, Lawal has become a heroine to the international women's movement and has become a worldwide media figure. 

The case has become an embarrassment for Nigeria's secular federal government and for President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has tried to reassure foreign protesters without offending Nigerian Muslims. 

No one has yet been stoned since 12 mainly Muslim northern states seized upon the end of military rule in 1999 to begin invoking Islamic law for the first time since independence 37 years earlier. 

But some thieves have had their hands amputated, and several others have been sentenced to be stoned for various "sex crimes". 

Lawal's appeal has come to be seen by many as a test case, as Nigerian federal officials have said that they can not challenge Sharia unless an individual appeals to the Supreme Court. 

But Baobab and Lawal's lawyers argue that she should be cleared simply because her case was mishandled even under Sharia's tough rules. 

She was tried by one judge, rather than by a panel of three, as required by law, the defence says

 Her charge was not properly explained in a language which she could understand, and she was not warned of the fatal consequences of her confession, they say. 

Also, they argue, Amina, a divorcee, was already pregnant when Sharia came into effect in Katsina State, meaning that the "adultery" had taken place when secular law still held sway. 

Under northern Nigeria's pre-Sharia criminal code adultery attracted only a prison sentence.

All eyes on Amina Lawal's new stoning appeal

 August 26 2003

By Dave Clark

Lagos - Amina Lawal, facing death by stoning for adultery, will be back before an Islamic court in northern Nigeria on Wednesday, hoping to launch her delayed second appeal against the sentence.

Lawal, 31, was convicted in May last year after fellow villagers in the northern state of Katsina denounced her as an adulteress when she bore her third child out of wedlock.

She was not the first and is not the latest Nigerian woman to fall foul of sharia's tough stance on extra-marital relations, but her case has become the focus of international protests.

'Our focus is just to see that justice is done' She will come to Katsina state's sharia appeal court to begin her appeal flanked by some of Nigeria's top lawyers, backed by international rights monitors and followed by the world's media.

In the eyes of the world, northern Nigeria's controversial decision to re-introduce Islamic criminal law will be on trial along with the soft-spoken village housewife.

But for Amina's defenders in Nigeria, the key issue is to ensure justice for her personally after a series of heart-rending adjournments, rather than to challenge the legal system.

"We're dealing with it on a case-by-case basis. Every case has its particularities, every case has its facts," said Ezinne Ndidi Ekekwe, of the women's rights group Baobab, which supports Amina.

Last year Lawal's conviction and first, failed appeal overshadowed the success of rights groups and lawyers in the appeal of 34-year-old Safiya Husseini against the same conviction.

Lawal's lawyers argue that her case was mishandled even under sharia's tough rules Since then, backed by international campaigners and Nigerian women's groups, she has become a celebrity; starring on magazine covers around the world and being given the freedom of the city of Rome.

The case is an embarrassment for Nigeria's secular federal government and for President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has tried to reassure foreign protesters without offending Nigerian Muslims.

No one has yet been stoned since 12 mainly Muslim northern states seized on the end of military rule in 1999 to begin invoking Islamic law for the first time since independence.

But some thieves have had their hands amputated, and several others have been sentenced to be stoned for various "sex crimes".

Lawal's appeal has come to be seen by many as a test case, as Nigerian federal officials have said that they can not challenge sharia unless an individual appeals to the Supreme Court.

Ekekwe rejects the idea that more rides on this week's appeal than the fate of one woman, however. "I don't see what we are testing," she said. "Our focus is just to see that justice is done."

Baobab and Lawal's lawyers argue that her case was mishandled even under sharia's tough rules.

Obasanjo has said he backs sharia in principle, for those communities that choose to apply it, but has vowed that federal appeal courts will quash any stoning sentences appealed to them.

He, like the women's campaigners, will be hoping that Katsina State's appeal court will overturn the sentence before the appeals procedure reaches a federal level.

Lawal's lawyers argue that her original trial was unfair, and her conviction based on unreliable testimony.

She was tried by one judge, rather than by a panel of three, as required by law.

Her charge was not properly explained in a language which she could understand, and she was not warned of the fatal consequences of her confession, they say.

Also, they argue, Amina (a divorcee) was already pregnant when sharia came into effect in Katsina State, meaning that the "adultery" had taken place when secular law still held sway.

Under northern Nigeria's pre-sharia criminal code adultery attracted only a prison sentence.

Nevertheless, in August last year the first appeal court to hear her case, the upper sharia court in the town of Funtua near her home, upheld Lawal's conviction.

If the Katsina appeal court follows suit, her next date will be with a federal, regional appeals court in Kaduna. The case is not expected to conclude on Wednesday, and may be re-adjourned. -