Nigeria Woman Appeals Death Sentence
By GLENN McKENZIE
Associated Press Writer
March 17, 2002, 3:13 PM EST
TUNGAN TUDU, Nigeria -- Safiya Hussaini admits having a baby several years
after divorcing her husband, but denies it was adultery -- the crime that
has made her the first person sentenced to death by stoning under Islamic
law implemented in a dozen northern Nigerian states.
"People think that because I am poor I cannot defend myself. They are
wrong," the mother of five told The Associated Press on the eve of her
appeal Monday before a court of Muslim elders in the northern Nigerian city
of Sokoto.
In the October judgment, an Islamic court ruled that Hussaini should be
stoned to death while buried up to her waist in sand for committing adultery
with a married neighbor.
Under Islamic law in Sokoto, adultery is punishable by death.
The case is stirring outrage well beyond this troubled West African nation,
where opposition to the imposition of Islamic law, or Shariah, in the north
has resulted in Muslim-Christian violence that has killed thousands since
early 2000. International rights organizations, women's groups and European
Union parliamentarians have all condemned the ruling.
President Olusegun Obasanjo's government, rights groups and other
well-wishers have provided Hussaini with a dozen lawyers.
Donations of rice, blankets and baby's clothing have flooded in from around
the globe.
As a result, for the first time, Hussaini, who is 35 years old but whose
wizened face and calloused hands make her appear much older, has enough food
to feed her family.
Hussaini's 13-month-old girl, Adama, the product of the union that prompted
authorities to charge her with adultery, is small for her age and stares
feebly at strangers while nursing weakly. The child is frequently ill and
coughs violently at night, Hussaini says.
Under the October ruling, which has been placed on hold pending her appeal,
Hussaini could be executed as soon as her child stops nursing.
Hussaini initially argued she was innocent of adultery because she had been
raped by her neighbor, Yakubu Abubakar.
However, she withdrew the rape accusation after Abubakar fled, apparently
fearing arrest.
She now accuses relatives and other associates of pressuring her into making
the accusation.
During a brief appearance to launch her appeal in January, Hussaini's
lawyers said her ex-husband, Yusuf Ibrahim, was the father of the child.
Hussaini repeated the claim, saying the conception had occurred before they
divorced "some years ago." Sokoto's Islamic law accepts arguments that
conception and birth could occur up to seven years apart despite the
biological improbability, her lawyers argue.
The defense hopes the appeals court will accept that argument as a
face-saving device for all sides.
Sokoto's Islamic law, introduced in early 2001, requires that an alleged
adulterer confess, or that at least three other witnesses testify.
Prosecutors admit they have not fulfilled that requirement.
The defense has also raised questions as to the very definition of adultery,
and whether it could have been committed after Hussaini had been divorced.
Increasing political pressure from within Nigeria and outside it has
prompted state officials to seek a new judgment.
"Both the defense and the prosecution were not given the opportunity to
articulate certain arguments," said Sokoto Information Commissioner Tahir
Mai-Akwai. He declined to elaborate.
Hussaini claims she was singled out because she is "a woman and poor," an
argument that rights groups have backed.
Marking International Women's Day earlier this month, Council of Europe
Secretary-General Walter Schwimmer urged Obasanjo to overturn Hussaini's
sentence, which he called "barbaric."
If the conviction is upheld, some observers warn the unintended consequences
could be grave.
Islamic fundamentalists, whose influence throughout northern Nigeria has
grown since Obasanjo's 1999 election ended 15 years of oppressive military
rule, continue to call for Shariah to be strengthened. That's despite
staunch opposition from southern and central states with Christian and
animist majorities.
Following the first execution under Shariah -- the Jan. 3 hanging of a man
convicted of murder -- the New York-based Human Rights Watch warned that
capital punishment carried out under Shariah could touch off further
religious bloodshed in Nigeria.
Nigeria, a nation of 120 million people belonging to 250 distinct ethnic
groups, has long been riven by cultural and political divisions that
periodically flare into violence.
Hussaini, despite the turmoil surrounding her, says if her conviction is
overturned she plans to get married again -- to her ex-husband Ibrahim.
"I hope we can move ... and start again," she said.
Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press
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