a court of Nigeria rejected on Wednesday the appeal filed by a 24-year-old singer to whom an Islamic court sentenced to death for blasphemy in August 2020.
The Kano City Court of Appeal rejected the appeal filed by Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, doomed for having insulted the prophet Muhammad in one of his songs.
Thousands of people had taken to the streets to protest against the singer and demand his arrest in early 2020.
In Islam, blasphemy, particularly against the prophet, can be punished with the death penalty. Islamic law was introduced in 2000 in 12 states in northern Nigeria.
execution on hold
Islamic courts, which run parallel to the state judicial system, have already handed down death sentences for adultery, blasphemy and homosexuality, but there have yet to be any execution.
After his sentence, Yahaya Sharif-Aminu had filed an appeal in which they asked the court to reject the legality of Sharia, Islamic law, in the name of the secular Constitution of Nigeria.
“The appellants’ attempt to demonstrate the illegality of sharia law is baseless,” said federal appeal judge Abubakar Mu’azu Lamido.
Sharif will appeal the sentence before the Supreme Court of Nigeriahis lawyer Kola Alapini told the AFP. (AFP)
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