Sharif-Aminu in 2021 got a judicial reprieve from the death penalty passed on him by a Sharia Court for blasphemy,
The appeal of 22-year-old musician Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, who was sentenced to death by hanging in 2020 after being convicted of blasphemy, comes up today (Thursday) at the Court of Appeal in Kano.
Sharif-Aminu in 2021 got a judicial reprieve from the death penalty passed on him by a Sharia Court for blasphemy,
However, he is still trying to overturn an order for his retrial for blasphemy.
His appeal, however, comes up for arguments on Thursday at the Court of Appeal, Kano, SaharaReporters can report.
Sharif-Aminu belongs to the Tijaniyya order, a popular Sufi Islamic order across North and West Africa.
He was accused of one count of insulting the religious creed, contrary to Section 382 (6) of the Kano State Sharia Penal Code Law of 2000, for a series of audio messages circulated via WhatsApp which became public knowledge in March 2020.
He was subsequently detained on December 1, 2020.
His messages allegedly praised an imam from the Tijaniya Muslim brotherhood (Ibrahim Niasse) and elevated him above the Prophet Muhammed.
Sharif-Aminu went into hiding following the backlash that followed his recording after protesters burnt down his family home. He was subsequently arrested that same month.
On August 10, 2020, a Sharia court found Sharif-Aminu guilty of blasphemy and sentenced him to death by hanging.
However, in January 2021, a higher court in Kano state overturned Sharif-Aminu’s conviction and ordered his case to be retried due to irregularities in the original trial.