Nigerian musician Yahaya Sharif-Aminu is currently detained after a court issued a retrial on sentencing him to death for a song shared over WhatsApp.
Yahaya was sentenced to death for having shared a song that was considered offensive to Islam. In January 2021, a retrial was ordered over irregularities in the legal proceedings, which took place behind closed doors without a lawyer present.
The retrial is now subject to an appeal at the Court of Appeal as a necessary step to ensure justice for Yahaya, he still faces charges that are in clear breach of his human rights – the right to freedom of artistic expression.