‘Music is not a crime’: UN experts urge Nigeria to lift singer’s death sentence

Geneva

UN rights experts asked Nigeria yesterday to release a 22-year-old singer who was condemned to death over an allegedly blasphemous song, and said the sentence broke international law. Yahaya Aminu Sharif was sentenced last month by a sharia court in Kano, the commercial hub of Nigeria’s mostly Muslim north, after he performed the song and shared it on WhatsApp.

“Music is not a crime,” read a joint statement from the group of U.N. rapporteurs. “Application of the death penalty for artistic expression or for sharing a song on the internet is a flagrant violation of international human rights law, as well as of Nigeria’s constitution,” said Karima Bennoune, special rapporteur on cultural rights. The rights experts said Nigeria should overturn the death sentence.