Amnesty International calls out Govt for refusing sentenced blasphemer access to lawyer
A Rights group, Amnesty International, has expressed its unhappiness over the Nigerian Government’s continued refusal to grant Yahaya Aminu-Sharif access to his lawyer as the time window for the musician to appeal his death sentence continues to fizzle out.
Recall that the 22-year old singer was sentenced to death by hanging by an Upper Sharia Court sitting at Hausawa Filin Hockey in Kano on August 10, 2020 for blaspheming the prophet of Islam in a song he circulated via WhatsApp sometime in March.
He was sentenced per section 382(b), Kano Penal code of 2000.
The civic group said the Abdullahi Umar Ganduje-led government in Kano apart from denying the young musician the right to legal representation is also denying him access to the certified true copy of the judgment.
Recall that Ganduje, who was once caught on camera stuffing wads of foreign currency into the pockets of his babariga, declared that he was ready to sign off on the execution of the singer once it gets to his table, sparking national and international outcry and condemnation.
READ ALSO: Blasphemy: Lawyers deny access to musician
In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Amnesty International expressed that with seven days left for Sharif to appeal his sentence, the Kano state government have calculatedly refused the singer access to legal representation, which is in violation of his rights,
“Amnesty International is deeply concerned about reports that Yahaya Aminu-Sharif has not been granted access to lawyers for the purpose of appealing the death sentence passed on him by the Upper Shariah Court in Kano State. He was sentenced on 10 August 2020.
“There are seven days left for Yahaya Sharif Aminu-Sharif to appeal the court judgment of his death sentence and court officials are allegedly denying him access to his lawyers. Prisoners have the right to legal representation.
“In an attempt to deny Yahaya Shariff-Aminu his right to appeal, the Upper Shari’ah Court in Kano has so far not provided lawyers a copy of the judgment. This is a gross violation of his rights” the group said in a series of tweets.
