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Blasphemy: Court reserves judgment on musician’s death sentence appeal

Published

4 years ago

November 27, 2020

The Kano State High Court (Appeal Division), on Thursday, reserved judgment on an appeal filed by a 30-year-old musician, Sharrif Yahaya, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy by a Shariah Court in the state.

Similarly, the court also reserved judgment on the appeals filed by a 10-year-old and 17-year-old Umar Farouq, who were jailed for blasphemy..

The convicts had, through their lawyer, Kola Alanipinni, dragged the Kano State Government and its Attorney General before the Kano State High Court to challenge their conviction on blasphemy charges by the Sharia Court in the state.

At Thursday’s sitting, counsel for the appellants, Alanipinni, and counsel for the state, Aisha Mahmud, adopted their briefs.

Alapinni appealed to the high court to declare the judgment of the Shariah Court unconstitutional, null, and void and quash it.

He said the Sharia Court sentences on his client amounted to a violation of their constitutional rights to freedom of expression and religion.

But the state counsel, Mahmud, urged the court to dismiss the appeals and affirmed the sentences imposed on the convicts by the Sharia Court.

After listening to the counsel, the panel presided over by the Kano State Chief Judge, Justice Nuraddeen Sagir, reserved its judgment to a day to be communicated to the parties.