Piotr Cywinski, director of Auschwitz Memorial in Poland,
says he is ready to be imprisoned in Nigeria so that Umar Farouq, a 13-year-old
boy sentenced for blasphemy, can regain freedom.
A Sharia court in Kano had convicted Farouq for “using
disparaging language on Allah” during a disagreement with his friend.
In a letter dated September 25 and addressed to President
Muhammadu Buhari, Cywinski sought pardon for Farouq.
He said if Buhari is unable to facilitate the teenager’s
release, he and 119 volunteers would serve a month in a Nigerian prison on
Farouq’s behalf.
“I permit myself to write to you personally about a young
boy named Omar Farouq, who was convicted recently in a Sharia court in Kano
State in north-west Nigeria after being accused of blasphemy used during an
argument with a friend,” he said.
“I wish to request the pardon of this 13 year old boy.
Regardless of what he said, he cannot be treated as fully aware and
responsible, given his age.
“If it turns out that the words of this child absolutely
require 120 months of imprisonment, and even you are not able to change that, I
suggest that in place of the child, 120 adult volunteers from all over the
world, gathered by us myself personally among them should each serve a month in
a Nigerian prison.
“In total, the price for the child’s transgression will be
the same, and we will all avoid the worst.
“If you agree to grant clemency, or to the above proposal in
lieu of punishment, I will make an attempt to provide financial help for the boy’s
proper education. This way, instead of a destroyed young man, Nigeria will gain
an aware and educated young citizen.
“You will undoubtedly agree with the statement that human
rights begin with the rights of the child. I kindly ask you to consider my
proposal favorably.”
The director of @AuschwitzMuseum wrote the President of Nigeria and asked him to pardon 13-year old Omar Farouq sentenced for 10 years imprisonment.
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) September 25, 2020
He declares he is ready to share part of the sentence.
'I cannot remain indifferent to this disgraceful sentence for humanity.' pic.twitter.com/EzVBjCzgcY
Cywinski’s request came days after the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) appealed to the Kano state government to reverse the
jail sentence.
Auschwitz Memorial preserves the remains of the German Nazi
concentration and extermination camp, where children were imprisoned and
murdered.
Adolf Hitler, late leader of Nazi Germany, reportedly oversaw the killing of 6 million Jews.
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