Safiya Hussaini, the Nigerian woman sentenced to death...

Safiya Hussaini, the Nigerian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery in Nigeria, and saved in part by worldwide mobilisation in her favour, has become a citizen of Rome. She had been condemned to death by the Sharia tribunal of the northern Sokoto state after giving birth to a baby girl when divorced.
She arrived in the Italian capital city accompanied by her daughter and was welcomed by Mayor Walter Veltroni, with whom she had a private meeting.
During the press conference that followed, Safiya, attired in her country's brightly-coloured traditional dress, remained mostly in silence, focusing her attention on her little daughter, who was quiet throughout. Safiya's expression was at times clouded by sadness.
"She has great strength and great reserve. One can tell that she has suffered, but she shows fortitude and awareness," Veltroni said, describing her to the press.
The Rome mayor thanked the Nigerian government for its attention to a "case that was not at all easy to handle considering that every country has its own history. It would be too easy to evaluate this case through our own cultural perspective. We have great respect for cultural differences, but we know also that certain values are not relative, and these include respect for human life."
The honorary citizenship was conferred to Safiya during an extraordinary sitting of the local council.