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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.
A third bill sets stiffer fines for
those w ho refuse a Breathalyzer test.
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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.