Posted on 08/03/2002 5:51:52 PM PDT by aculeus
This woman is about to be stoned to death for having a baby.
f her appeal, which starts tomorrow, fails she will be executed by being buried up to her waist and stoned until she dies.
Amina Lawal, 30, was sentenced to death by stoning by a regional court in Nigeria for having a child outside marriage.
She was unmarried when she became pregnant. Local villagers had her arrested and dragged before a court in Katsina Province charged with adultery.
She had no legal defence as she faced the panel of male judges. Human rights group Amnesty International said she didn't even know the nature of the charges against her and the consequences of being found guilty.
Under local law, admitting to having a baby amounts to a confession to adultery, a capital offence.
The man identified as the father of the baby girl was released. The court said there was not enough evidence against him.
For the father to be convicted, he has to either confess or four other men must testify they witnessed the adultery.
Amina was born into a very poor rural family. Like most girls in the region she was married off by her family when she was just 14. She suffered the same fate as many girls - the man divorced her as she got older.
Agence France-Press managed to speak to Amina as she waited for her appeal. She said her main worry was the strain the case was putting on her parents and what would happen to her baby, Wasila, if she was executed.
Human rights groups in Nigeria have been campaigning against the increasing number of cruel, inhumane and discriminatory sentences being introduced in courts in northern Nigeria.
Fundamentalist Muslims have gained power in northern Nigeria and forced in a series of drastic Shari'a laws.
Under the Shari'a laws in Katsina Province, the death penalty can be imposed on men or women who have sex outside marriage.
The Nigerian Government is opposed to the province's strict laws and the Federal Justice Minister has protested to the Katsina authorities, saying the death penalty for adultery breached the national constitution.
But a spokesman for the Katsina Government, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said the governor would not interfere in the appeal process.
He said if the appeal was turned down, Amina would be executed.
"If the appeal court confirms her as guilty, she will be executed," Mr Abdullahi said.
But the court will delay the stoning until she has weaned her baby.
Yeah... And with these kinds of laws, he won't have to worry about his mistresses blabbing to the media. They would get a stoning! /sarcasm
And now, I wonder what our resident muslim reverand farrakhan thinks about this?....
If she's raped by four men, are 16 witnesses required?
For anyone who's posted here complaining about your liberal friends (I pity you if that's not an oxymoron for you, but whatever), the liberals where you work, your liberal family members, etc. - Here's your chance.
Ask them whether we should support the woman's being executed, because we should be "Tolerant" of the "Culture" to which she belongs, or whether she should be spared, because women should have the right to choose the nature of their sexual relationships. Force them to choose one way or the other, and then force them to defend their answer, and take the other side of the argument no matter which position they choose.
With any luck, you won't be on speaking terms any more thereafter...
No, it is not that simple. They believe that a woman is worth less than a man. They believe that adultry is ok for men, but not for women. They believe that women should be punished (killed) for adultry, even when she is raped.
Their sick society cannot be justified.
I think it has more to do with wanting some of that oil money.
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