Rights experts say Nigeria should overturn death sentence (Representation)
Geneva:
UN rights experts on Monday called on Nigeria to release a 22-year-old singer sentenced to death for an allegedly blasphemous song, and said the sentence violated international law.
Yahaya Aminu Sharif was convicted last month by a Sharia court in Kano, Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim northern shopping center, after performing the song and sharing it on WhatsApp.
“Music is not a crime,” reads a joint statement from the UN rapporteur group.
“Applying the death penalty for artistic expression or for sharing a song on the Internet is a flagrant violation of international human rights law, as well as of the Nigerian constitution,” said Karima Bennoune , special rapporteur on cultural rights.
Rights experts said Nigeria should overturn the death sentence and guarantee the singer’s safety while he appeals. Protesters enraged by the song torched Sharif’s family home on March 4.
A spokesperson for the Kano state judiciary, which runs Sharia courts alongside civilian courts, said the decision was made with legal backing, adding that he was unaware of the call.
“If we are asked to release him, it must be through a legal process,” spokesman Baba Jibo Ibrahim said.
Kano’s justice system has been in the spotlight since a Sharia court also sentenced a 13-year-old boy to 10 years in prison last month after being accused of making blasphemous statements during an argument .
The head of the Polish Auschwitz memorial wrote to the Nigerian President asking him to forgive the boy, Omar Farouq, and offer him to serve part of the prison sentence himself.
Sharia courts in Kano are active, but death sentences for blasphemy are unusual and the most recent, handed down in 2015 to nine followers of the Tijani Muslim sect, have yet to be carried out.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
