Amina LawalNigeria 
Amina Lawal was sentenced to death by stoning by a Regional Court in Katsina State, Nigeria for having a child outside marriage. Her sentence was announced on 23 March 2002. When unmarried, Amina became pregnant. Local villagers had her arrested and she was brought before a Regional Court where she was charged with the crime of adultery. She had no legal representation and there were serious questions about whether the nature of the charges was adequately explained to her. Under the Katsina regional law, admitting to having a baby amounts to a confession to the crime of adultery. As in the case of Safiya Hussaini, the man identified as Amina's partner - the alleged father of her baby daughter - was released. The court said there was insufficient evidence against him. For him to be convicted, he must either confess, or four other men must testify that they witnessed the adultery. In September 2003, a Nigerian Sharia court upheld the appeal of Amina Lawal against her death sentence for adultery. The appeal judges held that pregnancy outside of marriage was not proof of adultery, that Lawal's alleged confession was not a confession in law, and, that her rights to a defense had not been properly recognized by the lower courts. Amina Lawal's trial in a Sharia court followed the decision by a number of states in the Muslim north of Nigeria to introduce Sharia courts and penalties for a wide range of offenses including adultery.
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