…says “Let Me & Others Serve 120 Months In Nigerian Prison.
Dr. Piotr M. A Cywinski, the Director of Auschwitz Birkenau State Museum has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to grant pardon to the convicted Omar Farouq by the Kano State Shariah Court for blasphemy.
This is contained in a letter dated 25th day of September, 2020 which was made available to TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL).
“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 northwest Nigeria after being accused of blasphemy used during an argument with a friend.
“As the director of the Auschwitz Memorial, that commemorates the victims and preserves the remains of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, where children were imprisoned and murdered, I cannot remain indifferent to this disgraceful sentence for humanity.” He said.
Meanwhile, he urged the President that the 13-year old boy cannot be treated as an adult and that “he should not be subjected to loss of the entirety of his youth, be deprived of opportunities, and stigmatized physically, emotionally and educationally for the rest of his life.”
Furthermore, he noted that in order to see that he is granted a pardon, 120 volunteers from around the world are ready to serve imprisonment in Nigeria for the sake of Omar.
“However, 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, 130 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.” He said.
Furthermore, he stated that if the pardon is granted, he is ready to provide financial help for the boy’s education, noting that “instead of a destroyed young man, Nigeria will gain an aware and educated young man”.
Finally, he urged the President to grant him pardon and said “human rights begin with the rights of the child.”
