Woman’s Stoning Sentence Is Upheld

FUNTUA, Nigeria —  An Islamic court in northern Nigeria ruled Monday that a young mother must face death by stoning according to Muslim law for having sex outside marriage.

The ruling upheld a decision by a lower court. The woman’s lawyers said they planned to file an appeal to a higher Islamic court. If that fails, they can appeal to the Supreme Court, where the case would force a showdown between Nigeria’s constitutional and religious authorities.

The introduction of Islamic law in a dozen northern states has sparked sectarian clashes. President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government has declared Islamic punishments such as beheadings, amputations and stonings unconstitutional.

Clutching her 8-month-old daughter, Amina Lawal burst into tears as the judge delivered the ruling. Lawal, 30, was first sentenced in March after giving birth more than nine months after divorcing.

Many of those in the packed courtroom shouted, “God is great!” in Hausa, as Lawal wept.

Church leaders and human rights groups were dismayed.

“The application of [Islamic law] is unconstitutional, and we must not tolerate it further,” John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, archbishop of Abuja, the capital, told the Italian-based missionary news service MISNA.

The judge said the sentence would be implemented as soon as Lawal finishes breast-feeding her baby.