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Sharia sows legal chaos in Nigeria
An Islamic court sentenced Mohammed Sagri to death by stoning months ago, but he doesn't expect to die any time soon. "I"m afraid, said Sagri, a 22-year-old mason who pleaded guilty to a sodomy charge in 2005. Then, staring at the floor of a jailhouse office, he added: But the sentence is unlikely to be carried out.In Nigerias Muslim north, sentences of amputation and death by stoning are routinely imposed under Shariah, or Islamic law. But no stonings have ever been carried out, and no amputations since 2001. Analysts say thats because Shariah law was implemented as a Muslim show of strength after the presidency passed to Olusegun Obasanjo, a southern Christian. Shariah, promoted by politicians as an anti-crime measure, applies only to Muslims, who make up about half Nigerias population of 140 million. Many Muslims initially welcomed it as an anti-crime measure, but as rampant theft by government officials continued to go unpunished, some began asking why, in an oil-rich country mired in poverty, Shariah seemed to apply only to the powerless. Posted by: ryuge 2007-02-16 |
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