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Al-Araby
Al-Araby
Nigerian atheist activist Mubarak Bala, detained in April 2020, was sentenced Tuesday to 24 years after pleading guilty to 18 charges in a blasphemy case. The 37-year-old was accused of writing Facebook posts criticising Islam and its prophet, which the court said were capable of breaching public peace in Nigeria’s conservative Muslim north where sharia law is enforced alongside common law. “The court hereby sentences Muhammad Mubarak Bala to 24 years… This will take into consideration the time he served awaiting trial,” Kano-based judge Faruk Lawan said. His lawyer James Ibor objected to th…