NIGERIA. TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH BY STONING IN KATSINA STATE

February 23, 2008: An upper Sharia Court in Dutsin-ma in Katsina State in northern Nigeria sentenced two men, Mani Sule and Rabo Umaru, to death by stoning for committing adultery, APA learns here.
The prosecutor told the court that four persons, including the two sentenced persons, were arrested in October last year for adultery with a 16-year-old girl which resulted in her pregnancy.
In his judgment, Mr. Aliyu Ingawa, said that the convicted persons had during the trial confessed to committing the offence and were therefore sentenced to death by stoning.
Ingawa said that Sule admitted committing the offence instantly, while Umaru, who initially denied the offence, later confessed to committing the offence.
The judge, however, discharged Sai’du Abdu, who pleaded not guilty to the charge and swore to the Holy Quran, while the other accused person, Tukur Almu, was also discharged as the victim said that she did not know him.
The judge said that the victim, who was brought to court as the defendant, was deceived by the convicts because of her tender age.
However, the convicts are allowed to appeal against the judgment and their execution can only take place if the state governor approves the death sentence.
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), a coalition of Human Rights Activists, described the sentence as an unacceptable punishment condemned under all international Human Rights treaties, the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Chapter four and the African Peoples and Human Rights convention. (Sources: APA, 23/02/2008, AllAfrica.org, 25/02/2008)