Nigeria: Stoning Death Sentence Quashed

An Islamic court in northern Nigeria on Wednesday threw out a death by stoning sentence against a pregnant 18-year-old girl who had been condemned for adultery. Judge Mohammed Mustapha Umar of the Upper Shariah Court in Dass, a rural town in Bauchi state, said a lower court was wrong to have convicted Hajara Ibrahim. The judge said it was an error to sentence Ibrahim both to death for adultery and 100 lashes of the cane — the punishment for pre-marital sex. The accused also was not given a chance to defend herself, the judge said.