Woman at center of storm over stoning appears in court

KATSINA, Nigeria -- A tearful 32-year-old woman cuddled and nursed her toddler in an Islamic appeals court Wednesday as lawyers pleaded she be spared death by stoning for having sex outside marriage.

Heavily veiled and draped in the sweltering courtroom, Amina Lawal appeared overwhelmed by the crush of riot police, journalists and rights workers as she arrived for a case that has sparked international campaigns on her behalf.

"I've never been this afraid," Lawal said, tears rolling down her face as she made her way past police ringing the courthouse in northern Nigeria's Katsina state. "I'm tired of all this."

The divorced woman was convicted of having sex outside marriage in March 2002 by an Islamic court following the birth of her daughter, Wasila, out of wedlock. The young girl is now nearly 2.

Introduction of Islamic law, or Sharia, has heightened Muslim-Christian tensions in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation. Religious, ethnic and political violence has claimed at least 10,000 lives since President Olusegun Obasanjo's 1999 election ended 15 years of repressive military juntas.

Judges said Wednesday that they would issue a ruling in the 1 1/2-year-old case on Sept. 25. But court action could still continue with a possible appeal to the Islamic system's own high appeals court and, after that, to Nigeria's top federal court.

An Islamic court convicted Lawal in March 2002 following the birth of her baby, more than two years after Lawal and her husband divorced.

Judges ordered her buried up to her neck in sand and stoned. While appeals continue, courts have ordered Lawal's execution postponed until her child -- now nearly 2 -- is weaned.

The alleged father of the baby denied responsibility and was ac-quitted.

On Wednesday, Sharia court prosecutor Nurulhuda Mohammad Darma argued Lawal's pregnancy and divorced status were "enough evidence" of a crime.

"There is no other excuse that is acceptable," Darma told the court.

However, in closing remarks, Darma said the prosecution "would not object if the court finds a good reason to set Amina free."

He told journalists later that the prosecution would drop the case if Lawal wins this appeal.

Judges said Wednesday they would announce their ruling Sept. 25.

Defense lawyer Aminu Musa Yawuri urged judges to acquit Lawal, arguing that an earlier confession was invalid because no one had explained to Lawal -- a poor, uneducated woman from a farming family -- the nature of the offense or the punishment.

Yawuri also contended that under some interpretations of Shariah law, babies can remain in gestation in their mother's womb for up to five years, making it possible under Islam that her ex-husband could have fathered the child.

"I expect an acquittal," head defense lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim told reporters. "In case that does not happen, we are prepared for the worst. We will go up to the Supreme Court."

Katsina state authorities have insisted the case go through the Shariah appeals process despite requests by Nigeria's federal government that Lawal be freed.

"Amina is very worried. Sometimes she can't eat," Lawal's uncle, Magaji Liman, told journalists. "She wants to see the end of this case so that she can marry and have a normal life."

As the case began, Lawal appeared distracted from proceedings, calmly nursing and playing with her gurgling toddler. She rarely watched the lawyers, at one point falling asleep with her toddler also nodding off in her arms.

Nearly an hour into the hearing, the chief judge, or Grand Khadi, Aminu Ibrahim, warned the dozen or more volunteer attorneys clamoring to give arguments on Lawal's behalf not to delay.

"The case has dragged on for too long," Ibrahim said.

"It is not good ... to keep her fate in the balance any further," Ibrahim said, prompting Lawal to gaze up briefly at the judge.