South Africa has welcomed the acquittal on Thursday of a Nigerian single mother who had faced death by stoning for having a child out of wedlock.
”The government has noted and welcomed the decision,” Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said in Pretoria.
An Islamic appeals court in northern Nigeria acquitted Amina Lawal (32) earlier in the day.
Rejecting her conviction, a five-judge panel said Lawal had not been given ”ample opportunity to defend herself”.
Had the sentence had been carried out, she would have been the first woman stoned to death since 12 northern Nigerian states adopted strict Islamic law in 1999.
The case has evoked wide condemnation from international rights groups, with the Nigerian government and several world leaders calling for Lawal to be spared.
The Law Society of South Africa also applauded the decision.
In a statement, the chairperson of the society’s gender equality committee, Thoba Poyo, said: ”There is a saying ‘wathinta abafazi wathinta imbokodo‘ — you touch a woman, you touch a rock.
”This is a victory for human rights and equality, especially on the African continent.”
The society had been working tirelessly to overturn the sentence since it was first passed over a year ago, Poyo said.
” It has also been working with Amnesty International to sign a petition to urge the Nigerian government to set aside the penalty.
”Lawal’s case was being handled by the Spanish branch of Amnesty International, which was attempting to put together enough signatures to make the Nigerian government rescind the death sentence.” — Sapa