Death by stoning sentence overturned

November 10, 2004 - (The Guardian) An Islamic appeal court in Nigeria today overturned a sentence of death by stoning handed down to a 29-year-old pregnant woman for having sex out of wedlock.

Hajara Ibrahim was convicted of adultery in September this year with her capital sentence suspended until after she gave birth. She lodged her appeal one week ago.

Judge Mohammed Mustapha Umar, sitting in the Dass upper sharia court today, said the conviction was unsound and set the woman free. "This court has annulled the lower court judgment," he said.

The Lere lower court, in the Tafawa Balewa area of Bauchi state, had sentenced Ms Ibrahim to 100 lashes and death by stoning after she confessed to having unlawful sex with a 35-year-old man, Dauda Sani. Mr Sani was released for lack of evidence.

Judge Umar annulled the conviction because, he said, it was incorrect to deliver two sentences for the same crime. Also, the confession was void because it was not made four times, as required under sharia law, and Ms Ibrahim was not given the chance to defend herself.

"The court has therefore set Hajara free of all charges," said the judge.

No defendants have been stoned to death in Nigeria in the four years since 12 northern states introduced Islamic sharia law, because all such sentences have been overturned on appeal.

Last week, the lawyer for another woman sentenced to be stoned appealed before an Islamic court in northern Nigeria against her conviction for adultery.

Daso Adamu, 25, contested her conviction on the basis that the father of her six-month-old child was a husband she divorced in 2001.

Her lawyer, Abdulkadir Suleiman, argued that sharia law allowed for five years between conception and birth, and that the conception could thus be considered to have taken place during her marriage. The court in Ningi village in Bauchi state is expected to rule next month.

From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1347864,00.html