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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2003)
PageA2 (Tifi' JJnrtlanù ©bseruer October 01, 2003 P olice Nigerian Stoning Sentence Overturned Court acquits woman facing death for adultery (AP) — A single mother facing death by stoning for adultery had her sentence overturned by an Is lamic appeals court Thursday in a case that has sparked international outrage. A five-judge panel in Katsina, N igeria rejected the senten ce against 32-year-old Amina Lawai, saying she was not caught in the act o f adultery and she was not given “ample opportunity to de fend herself.” If the sentence had been carried out, the single mother would have been the first woman stoned to death since 12 northern states first began adopting strict Islamic law, or Shariah, in 1999. Lawai, wrapped in a light orange veil, sat on a stone bench, eyes downcast, cradling her nearly 2- year-old daughter as the rul ing was announced at the Katsina State Shariah Court o f Appeals under heavy security. The judges read their verdict, which is final, inside a tiny blue- walled courtroom equipped with ceiling fans to ease the sweltering heat. Lawai was first convicted in March 2002 following the birth o f her daughter two years after she divorced her husband. Judges re jected Law ai’s first appeal in Au gust 2002. In an hour-long hearing, the panel said Lawai was not caught in the act o f adultery and w a s n 't given enough time to understand the charges against her. It also cited procedural errors, including that only one judge was present at her initial conviction in March 2002, instead o f the three required under Islamic law. The case had drawn sharp criti cism from international rights g ro u p s. N ig e ria n P re sid en t Olusegun O basanjo’s government and world leaders had called for Lawai to be spared. Last week, Bra zil even offered her asylum. Few believed the brutal sentence — in which Lawai would have been buried up to her neck in sand and executed by stoning — would ever be carried out. Francois Cantier, a lawyer with F re n ch g ro u p A v o c a ts S an s Frontières, or Lawyers Without Borders, said the punishment was contrary to the Nigerian constitu tion and would violate international treaties against torture. Prosecutors argued L aw ai’s child was living proof she com mit ted a crime under Shariah. But lead defense lawyer Aliyu Musa Yawuri said that under some interpretations o f Shariah, babies Wonder Stands Up Against Racial Bias Recording artist asksjudge to free man A m ina Lawai a n d h er b aby W asila a t th e co u rt in Katsina, Nigeria. The 32-year-old single m o th e r w as s e n te n c e d in March 2 0 0 2 to b e buried up to h er n e c k in sa n d a n d th en s to n e d for giving birth to a child o u t o f wedlock. During th e a p p ea l c a s e s h e w as s e t free. (AP photo) can remain in gestation in a mother's womb for five years, opening the possibility her ex-husband could have fathered the child. He also argued Lawai’s case should be dropped because no law yers were present when she first' testified that she had slept with another man following herdivorce. Yawuri said Lawai a poor, un educated woman from a rural family — didn’t understand the charges against her at the time. Lawai has identified her alleged sexual partner, Yahaya Mohammed, and said he promised to marry her. Mohammed, who would also have faced a stoning sentence, has de nied any impropriety and has been acquitted for lack o f evidence. (AP) — Stevie Wonder has asked a federal judge to free a man convicted as a leader o f a West C oast-to-D etroit cocaine and heroin ring. The Grammy-winning singer came to U.S. District Court for A ntonio A m een’s sentencing hearing. Ameen, 37, received 20 years in prison. Wonder asked to speak in fa vor o f allowing Ameen to remain free on bond during an appeal that is based on race bias. U.S. District Judge John O ’Meara de clined the request, saying Won der had covered all his points in a Sept. 30,2002, letter. In the letter, Wonder, a former Detroiter whose legal name is S tev elan d M orris, said h e ’d known Ameen for several years and was impressed with Ameen’s parenting during a long, hard criminal case. “Please look within the deep est part o f your heart, spirit and history and use any discretion S te vie W onder that you have to keep this man with his family as long as possible,” the letter said. Over the objections o f U.S. As sistant Attorney John Freeman, O ’Meara said Ameen and associ ate Steven Fantroy, 38, o f Detroit could remain free until the Bureau o f Prisons finds beds for them. O ’Meara said he also will consider whether to allow the men to remain free pending their appeals. Both men said they were denied a fair trial because they are black and no blacks served on their jury. Wonder, 53, and Ameen met af ter Ameen became a musician and producer in Los Angeles. Tougher DUII Laws Enacted (A P) WELLS FARGO M easures aim ed at cracking dow n on drunken driving w ere signed into law Thursday by Gov. Ted K ulongoski in a cerem ony attended by prosecutors, crim e vic tim advocates and relatives o f vic tim s. “All O regonians should know that if they drink and get behind the w heel, they w ill face the co n se quences,” the governor said. K ulongoski and legislative spon sors said the m easures passed by the 2003 Legislature represent the m ost significant toughening o f DUII laws in the past 20 years. O ne o f the m easu res im poses longer sentences for those convicted o f criminally negligent homicide while driving drunk. A nother, requires a guilty plea before a drunken-driving defendant can enter a treatm ent program to avoid a longer jail sentence. 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As of July 1,2003, th e index value was 4% an d th e margin was minus 0.01. e 2003 Wells Fargo Banks. All rights reserved. M embers FDIC. I Money, Drugs and Guns Behind School Fight (AP) — A fight at Parkrose High School in northeast Portland that resulted in the suspension o f 19 students wasn’t fueled by racial tension as initially reported but in volved money, drugs and a cache o f stolen assault rifles and pistols, po lice say. “We pretty quickly figured out this w asn’t a race riot,” Portland police Detective Dave Anderson said Thursday. “T hat’s not the deal.” Although many questions remain unanswered, detectives have traced the Sept. 12 fight to a dispute over drugs that started last spring. They also uncovered links among some o f the teenagers involved in the fight and a chain reaction o f threats and drive-by shootings, as well as a marijuana-growing operation and two burglaries in which 21 guns were stolen. Three students from the school have been arrested, but none o f them on charges relating to the fight. Meuy Saechao, 17, and her boyfriend, Alex Coopersmith, 16, were taken into custody Sept. 22 after police found five assault rifles, a 9 mm pistol and a marijuana growing operation in the girl’s home. A 15-year-old boy was taken into custody on an unrelated parole vio lation.