By Martin Cole-
The sentence of a Nigerian court of an atheist to 24 years in prison for making social media posts it found to be against Islam is against free speech.
Free speech has long been a challenge in Islamic socieities, with the authorities going to extreme punitive measures against those who violate the core of their beliefs.
Mubarak Bala, a former Muslim, now turned atheist, was sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty to charges of blasphemy , following a lengthy trial during which he spent nearly two years in prison.
The Prosecution Counsel, Mr Muhammad Sani, told the court that the convict had on April 28, 2020, made a blasphemous post on his Facebook page.
Sanu said the post was against Allah (SWA) and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and had caused a major outrage in the city of Kano, where the convict hails from.
According to the prosecutor, the offence contravened the provision of Sections 114 and 210 of the Penal Code. It has no provision for free speech, which should be fundamental to the laws of every democratic country.
One of the posts read: “Religion is not a person, long dead people are dead, Gods do not exist, so why fear analysis & critique on works attributed to them?
There had been campaigns for his release with activists saying he was prevented from seeing his wife and lawyer by prison authorities.
Delivering judgment, Justice Farouk Lawan, sentenced the convict to 24 years imprisonment.
The judge also ordered that the sentence term would commence from the day that the convict was arrested. He also ordered that the sentences for all the 18 charges for which Bala was convicted should run concurrently.
The judge also ordered that the sentence term would commence from the day that the convict was arrested.
He added that the sentences for all the 18 charges for which Bala was convicted should run concurrently.
Bala is the president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria. Critics say his conviction illustrates the risks of being openly faithless in northern Nigeria, which is predominantly Muslim.
His conviction also demonstrate the extent to which different regimes set different parameters to the laws they create.
Prosecutors in northern Kano state accused Bala of publishing Facebook posts that insulted the Prophet Muhammad and the religion of Islam, and attempted to “cause a breach of the public peace”, according to court documents.
Bala long maintained his innocence of the charges of blasphemy but he changed his plea to guilty only after “enormous pressure for the past few years”, said Leo Igwe, founder of the Nigerian Humanist Association.
Bala was tried in a secular court but could have risked a death sentence in Nigeria’s Islamic courts that operate in other parts of the country’s north.
“He thinks the judge is compromised … and that he would rather just have closure,” Bala’s lawyer James Ibori said.
Bala’s prolonged stay in prison and eventual conviction caused anger among some Nigerians and activists who accused authorities of a flawed prosecution process. He should not have been charged under Kano state law, Ibori said, because “he was not in Kano when the offence was allegedly committed”.
While in prison, Bala had been denied access to healthcare, kept in solitary confinement, and forced “to worship the Islamic way”, said Ibori.
The Kano state government denied any wrongdoing in the trial and said the judgement could be appealed.
Appealing the ruling of a judge on legal principles based on Shariah Law is generally seen as a waste of time. Islamic sentiments in the North of Nigeria are very strong, to the extent of frequent attacks of innocent people by Islamic Insurgents.
Only last week, seven passengers have died after gunmen attacked a busy train between Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, and Kaduna city.
The gang mined the track forcing the train, carrying 970 passengers, to a stop on Monday , and subsequently surrounded the carriages and opened fire.
Armed gangs carrying out killings and kidnappings for ransom have continued to unleash violence, especially in northern Nigeria despite military bombardments of their hideouts. Last Saturday, they attacked Kaduna’s international airport.
The imposition of harsh laws against the rule of law should be confronted by the United Nations, to prevent the continuous abuse of power in these countries.