Famous Nigerian atheist activist Muhammad Mubarak Bala pleaded guilty to blasphemy on Tuesday (April 5th) in a court in northern Nigeria, which sentenced him to 24 years in prison, an AFP journalist noted.
Read alsoAttack on a train in Nigeria: more than 160 people are still missing
“
The court sentences Muhammad Mubarak Bala to 24 years in prison
,” Kano High Court Judge Faruk Lawan said after his trial, which opened on Tuesday morning.
Muhammad Mubarak Bala, 37 and president of the Humanists Association of Nigeria, was arrested in April 2020 for writing Facebook posts criticizing Islam and its prophet.
The court ruled that these messages could undermine public order in the conservative Muslim north of Nigeria, where Sharia law is applied alongside common law.
Read alsoNigeria: 34 people, including 2 soldiers, killed by armed men
The activist pleaded guilty in court to the 18 charges against him.
His lawyer James Ibor objected to his guilty plea and asked the judge if he could speak to his client, a request which was granted.
"
I wanted to be sure that he was not under any influence or intimidation
," Me Ibor told AFP.
But when the trial resumed, Muhammad Mubarak Bala again pleaded guilty, however imploring "
mercy and leniency
" from the court.
“
The purpose of my posts was not to cause violence, but I realized that they could cause it.
I will be careful in the future
,” said Muhammad Mubarak Bala, wearing a short-sleeved white shirt,
