How is “adultery” proven, before a stoning sentence is passed in the courtroom?
In states where stoning is codified in law (Iran, Nigeria, and the Sudan) adultery must be proven in court. According to many interpretations of Islamic Law (including the Iranian Penal Code), proving adultery is very difficult, and a guilty sentence is nearly impossible to obtain through hard evidence. Adultery punishable by stoning must be proven by the eye-witness testimony of either four just men (or three just men and two just women) or through four separate confessions by the defendant before a judge. But in fact, most stoning sentences in Iran are issued not on the basis of testimony or confession but on the judge’s “knowledge” or “intuition.” Article 105 of the Islamic Penal code of Iran allows a single judge to rule according to his personal opinion instead of hard evidence. As a result, most if not all adultery cases are unfairly tried. In Nigeria, pregnancy outside of a subsisting marraige has been taken as evidence of adultery by the woman — however, since the acquittal of
