An Islamic court in northern Nigeria began hearing...

An Islamic court in northern Nigeria began hearing an appeal from a woman convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning under controversial Sharia, or Islamic, law. Amina Lawal will have to wait a while yet for the judgement. After hearing from her defence counsel, the four Sharia judges have adjourned the case until August. Her lawyers, funded by human rights organisations, are claiming that the father of Amina's child is her former husband, using the defence allowable under Islamic law, that the foetus lay dormant in her womb since the divorce two years ago. This is the second such case to come before the Sharia court of appeal. The previous conviction was overturned in March after intense international pressure from human rights groups. Despite the Nigerian federal government declaring such strict Sharia punishments unconstitutional, the country's northern states appear determined to enforce these laws. The convicted woman, Amina Lawal, now has an eight-month old baby daughter. The existence of this child, born to a divorcee, was evidence enough to convict her of the crime of adultery. If Amina Lawal loses her appeal this time, she can take her case all the way to the Supreme Court in Abuja. Only then would the debate come to a head and the constitutionality of the strict Sharia punishments really be tested.