BRAZIL OFFERS ASYLUM TO NIGERIAN WOMAN

September 11, 2003 – (AP) Brazil said Thursday it was willing to grant asylum to a woman in Nigeria who was sentenced to death by stoning for having sex outside of marriage.

Amina Lawal is appealing the Islamic court sentence. If she is successful and eventually released she could take advantage of the asylum offer if she feels in danger remaining in Nigeria, said Vera Rota, a spokeswoman for the country's federal women's rights agency.

Rota said Brazil would grant Lawal and the child ``safe haven'' on humanitarian grounds.

An Islamic court in northern Nigeria convicted Lawal in March 2002 following the birth of her baby, more than two years after Lawal and her husband divorced.

Judges ordered her buried up to her neck in sand and stoned. The alleged father of the baby denied responsibility and was acquitted.

From: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Brazil-Nigeria-Asylum.html