UN calls on Nigeria to scrap death penalty for musician Yahaya Aminu Sharif who was sentenced to death by Sharia court

The UN has called on Nigeria to scrap the death sentence handed to a musician by a Sharia court for sharing a 'blasphemous' song on WhatsApp.

Yahaya Aminu Sharif, 22, was handed the death penalty last month by a Sharia court in Kano, in Nigeria's mostly Muslim north, and faces being hanged. 'Music is not a crime,' read a joint statement from the group of UN officials on Monday. 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, a UN expert on cultural rights. 

'Artistic expression of opinion and beliefs, through songs or other media – including those seen to offend religious sensibilities – is protected in accordance with international law,' the statement added. 'The criminalization of these expressions is unlawful. Music is not a crime.' 

The rights experts said Nigeria should overturn the death sentence and guarantee the singer's safety while he launched an appeal. Protesters enraged by the song burned down Sharif's family home on March 4 amid protests demanding he be punished. The singer had gone into hiding after sharing the song, which praised an imam from the Tijaniya Muslim brotherhood to the point where it gave him higher status than the Prophet Muhammad, the BBC reported. 

Islamic gospel musician Sharif belongs to a separate branch of Tijaniyya Sufi order.