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Woman Sentenced to Stoning Spared

Aired September 25, 2003 - 10:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to Nigeria where a court decision says that no one will throw stones. You see Islamic appeals court in Nigeria has ruled that a single mother there accused of adultery will not be stoned to death.
For more on this story let's go now to CNN's Jeff Koinange. He's live in the city Katsina. He joins us by way of video phone with the very latest. Jeff, what's the story this morning?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The story, Leon, is that Amina Lawal, 31-year-old single parent, is a free woman today two and a half years after she was on Nigeria's equivalent of death row.

The five judges sitting on the panel today took exactly one hour to come up with a reading. And in that reading they said she was indeed, in their own words, "acquitted, discharged and free to go home," Leon.

HARRIS: Well, Jeff, does this mean then that this Nigerian court then has said that Shariah law now does not actually have, I guess, jurisdiction or does not rule in these areas now, or what?

KOINANGE: Well, the thing is the defense had a really good argument. They argued that Shariah law in this state of Katsina was implemented three months after Amina Lawal was pregnant. So in essence she was not liable for it. Yes she had the baby six months later, but Shariah law was not in effect when she conceived the baby.

That's was their argument. That's what the five judges came out -- and four of them actually agreed. One of them dissented, four of them agreed. And this is why she's free to go.

Now there was a lot of security present here outside the courtroom where we still are right now. But there was no reaction, no riots, no agitation, nothing. People just -- the ones who disagreed raised their hands in the air, walked away.

A quite of few of them disagreed but for the most part it was a joyous day. Amina's lawyers telling us this is a day of victory, a day of victory not only for justice but for Nigeria.

And we also got a chance, an exclusive interview with Amina Lawal later on, about half an hour after the ruling. And she told us in Arabic translation, she said, "God is great." That's all she could say.

And also she went on to say that she's ready to go on, get married, go back to her home and live a normal life, Leon. That's all we can ask right now. That's all she wants. It's not so much to ask, Leon.

KOINANGE: That's interesting, Jeff. So she's going to be going right back to her home, back to the area that is ruled by this Shariah law that got her in this situation and brought it so much international attention to Nigeria and to this region. Is the expectation there, Jeff, that she be able to just go back to her life and pick it up and have a normal life?

KOINANGE: It's interesting you ask that, Leon. Because in essence she hasn't been incarcerated the last two and a half years. She has gone back to the village, she has been living amongst here people. And she hasn't been harassed in the last two and a half years or so. People went about their business. Once in a while they would jeer at her or point fingers at her.

But for the most part she lived a life with her parents, with her siblings. She's going right back there, about a hundred miles from where I'm standing right now, back to her village, back to her normal life. And she just wants to get married and continue on with her life -- Leon.

HARRIS: Very interesting. Thank you, Jeff. Jeff Koinange reporting live for us from Katsina, Nigeria. Jeff's been following this story for us from the very beginning. Appreciate that, Jeff. Take care.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired September 25, 2003 - 10:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to Nigeria where a court decision says that no one will throw stones. You see Islamic appeals court in Nigeria has ruled that a single mother there accused of adultery will not be stoned to death.
For more on this story let's go now to CNN's Jeff Koinange. He's live in the city Katsina. He joins us by way of video phone with the very latest. Jeff, what's the story this morning?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The story, Leon, is that Amina Lawal, 31-year-old single parent, is a free woman today two and a half years after she was on Nigeria's equivalent of death row.

The five judges sitting on the panel today took exactly one hour to come up with a reading. And in that reading they said she was indeed, in their own words, "acquitted, discharged and free to go home," Leon.

HARRIS: Well, Jeff, does this mean then that this Nigerian court then has said that Shariah law now does not actually have, I guess, jurisdiction or does not rule in these areas now, or what?

KOINANGE: Well, the thing is the defense had a really good argument. They argued that Shariah law in this state of Katsina was implemented three months after Amina Lawal was pregnant. So in essence she was not liable for it. Yes she had the baby six months later, but Shariah law was not in effect when she conceived the baby.

That's was their argument. That's what the five judges came out -- and four of them actually agreed. One of them dissented, four of them agreed. And this is why she's free to go.

Now there was a lot of security present here outside the courtroom where we still are right now. But there was no reaction, no riots, no agitation, nothing. People just -- the ones who disagreed raised their hands in the air, walked away.

A quite of few of them disagreed but for the most part it was a joyous day. Amina's lawyers telling us this is a day of victory, a day of victory not only for justice but for Nigeria.

And we also got a chance, an exclusive interview with Amina Lawal later on, about half an hour after the ruling. And she told us in Arabic translation, she said, "God is great." That's all she could say.

And also she went on to say that she's ready to go on, get married, go back to her home and live a normal life, Leon. That's all we can ask right now. That's all she wants. It's not so much to ask, Leon.

KOINANGE: That's interesting, Jeff. So she's going to be going right back to her home, back to the area that is ruled by this Shariah law that got her in this situation and brought it so much international attention to Nigeria and to this region. Is the expectation there, Jeff, that she be able to just go back to her life and pick it up and have a normal life?

KOINANGE: It's interesting you ask that, Leon. Because in essence she hasn't been incarcerated the last two and a half years. She has gone back to the village, she has been living amongst here people. And she hasn't been harassed in the last two and a half years or so. People went about their business. Once in a while they would jeer at her or point fingers at her.

But for the most part she lived a life with her parents, with her siblings. She's going right back there, about a hundred miles from where I'm standing right now, back to her village, back to her normal life. And she just wants to get married and continue on with her life -- Leon.

HARRIS: Very interesting. Thank you, Jeff. Jeff Koinange reporting live for us from Katsina, Nigeria. Jeff's been following this story for us from the very beginning. Appreciate that, Jeff. Take care.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com