History
Meet Amina Lawal, The Second Woman Convicted To Death By Stoning
- Lawal was the second Nigerian woman condemned to death by stoning for engaging in sex before marriage.
- The first woman, Safiya Hussaini, had her sentence overturned in March 2002 on her first appeal.
- Sharia law was established in northern Nigeria’s mostly Muslim state Zamfara in 2000 and has since spread to at least twelve other states
On 19 August 2002, Lawal’s first appeal against the stoning sentence was rejected by an Islamic court in Katsina State of Nigeria. The appeals judge stated that the sentence would be carried out as soon as Kurami weaned her daughter from breast-feeding.
A second appeal was put in motion and on 25 September 2003 Lawal’s sentence of death by stoning for adultery was overturned by a five-judge panel of Katsina State Sharia Court of Appeal.
Four of the five judges ruled that the conviction violated Islamic law on a number of points, which included: the defendant’s right to proper legal defence was not ensured; the circumstantial evidence of her pregnancy was not sufficient; the confession of the accused was not valid; and only one instead of the required three judges was present at the time of conviction.
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Baobab for Women’s Human Rights, an NGO based in Nigeria, took up her case, which was argued by Nigerian lawyers trained in both secular and Sharia law.
Lawal’s lawyers included Hauwa Ibrahim, a prominent human rights lawyer known for her pro bono work for people condemned under Sharia law.
In their successful defence of Amina Lawal, lawyers used the notion of “extended pregnancy” (dormant foetus), arguing that under Sharia law, a five-year interval is possible between human conception and birth; two years prior to the date of her daughter’s birth, she was still married to her husband.
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