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Wed 30 Oct, 2002 03:21 pm
"Backing Off on Death-By-Stoning Verdicts
Wed Oct 30,10:59 AM ET
LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria said it would never allow the implementation of a series of Islamic sharia law death-by-stoning verdicts, in an apparent bid to reassure beauty queens threatening to boycott this year's Miss World (news - web sites) pageant.
Junior Foreign Minister Dubem Onyia singled out the case of Amina Lawal Kurami, a 31-year-old Muslim woman whose sentencing to death by stoning for adultery sparked worldwide outrage.
"Amina Lawal will never, never be stoned to death," Onyia said a news conference on Tuesday. "The federal government will not stand by to let any citizen of this country be dehumanized."
About a dozen states in northern Nigeria have extended sharia law from civil to criminal cases since President Olusegun Obasanjo was elected in 1999.
Miss World organizers in Nigeria have found themselves caught up in the sharia controversy, with both human rights activists and radical Islamic groups calling for a boycott.
Miss World contestants including those from France, Canada, Belgium, Ivory Coast, Kenya and Norway said they would boycott the December 7 pageant in Abuja after a northern Nigerian court upheld Kurami's sentence. "
Wonder whether the government's decision had more to do with public relations than benevolence! Nonetheless, I am happy that Lawal is safe!
Yes, indeed - so am I. This whole move towards Sharia law is one I find very scary - especially in the current state of play where, feeling attacked, Moslems seem more likely to support radical versions of Islamic practice.
wow, that's good news. I was wondering about that woman a few days ago.
First, can I say I love the "Search" function? I just got an email from a friend asking to sign a petition to grant Amina a reprieve, thought I remembered seeing something about it here, entered "Lawal", and boom.
Second, evidently Onyia was speaking out of turn:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/amina.htm
The Cdn rep at the Miss World thing actually went to that northern part of Nigeria feeling she might be able to influence the Muslims into NOT stoning the poor woman to death. It is lucky she did not cause trouble for the poor girl did not realize how extreme some muslim people or groups can be. I believe she had a slight taste of what the OTHER part the world is like & that is why she hiked it out of there as soon as trouble started. Mind you I could be 100% wrong.
Good news, because today the "nixing" is for real: in appeal, Amina Lawal was yesterday acquitted of adultery by an Islamic court. The prosecutors have said they will accept the verdict, so there will be no stoning.
The international protests have worked, concluded the newspapers here. (Did this story make it to the frontpages of your country as well?)
Addendum: There will be no stoning of Amina Lawal. Other news on the same day is that a homosexual man, aged 20, was sentenced to stoning in the Nigerian state of Bauchi. So the cycle of protest and appeal starts again ...
Thus far the punishment of stoning has been demanded in six cases brought before the Nigerian Sha'ria courts, but it hasn't been put into effect once yet.
Nothing is funny about this issue, except maybe the article posted. "Come to Nigeria, beauty queens! No death-by-stonings here anymore!"
What the hell were the Miss World people thinking anyway choosing Nigeria in the first place? The ignorance on both sides overwhelms me...
Maybe we should remove their leader from power and bomb these animals into submission....do they have any oil?
Good one Bear - maybe they have weapons of mass destruction ... yeah I think I heard something about that ... heyyy, let's go get 'em!
Nigerians are famous as drug mules, swallowing condoms of coke and heroin....hmm...makes me think anew about why Miss World might be hosted there....
Nigeria's WMD = Stones !!
It is a horrible country - I have been there twice, believe me !
Bi-Polar Bear wrote:Maybe we should remove their leader from power and bomb these animals into submission....do they have any oil?
They do, actually. Lots of it.
Heard this news yesterday, read it today! I'm very happy. If the world hadn't cried out for her, she'd be dead. Good going us!
well what are we waiting for then nimh? It's not like we're already overextended in transparent world wide efforts to make a handful of people rich or anything.......oh wait!!! Nevermind........
Hmm I think it's pretty dam scary if you ask me... don't think it's funny. Ohh they got lots of oil right but they also got lots of fighting there and thousands of people die there every year over the oil and the muslim and christin problem. So i don't think the odd American Bomb is going to make much differnce let alone "beat them into submissiom".
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