Petition could save woman's life in Nigeria

To the editor:

On Aug. 27, Amina Lawal is set to be buried up to her neck and executed by stoning in Nigeria for the crime of adultery. She was convicted a year ago, but her sentence was postponed because she was pregnant and then was given this year to nurse her infant. Believe it or not, her baby is evidence of her adultery.

The Spanish branch of Amnesty International is attempting to gather enough signatures to pressure the Nigerian government into rescinding the death sentence. If you have access to a computer please sign the petition at:

http://www.amnesty.org.au/e-card/petition.asp.

If you think there is no use in doing so because the government will never commute her sentence, please think again. I took part in another case like this by signing a petition and even writing to the Nigerian embassy, and the sentence was commuted because so many other people took a few minutes to sign a petition. So every signature counts. If the government caved in to Amnesty International's efforts before, it will probably do so again. Time is very short

CHRISTINE E. STEPHENS

Cape Girardeau