EVEN AS two other nations, France and Belgium, have threatened to boycott the upcoming Miss World 2002 competition in Nigeria next month, Jamaica has still not made a decision. The boycott threats come in light of the Sharia sentence of death by stoning handed down to a Nigerian woman for adultery.
According to Laura Butler, pageant director, Jamaica is still awaiting word from the international organisers.
"The most recent development is that Julia Morley, the franchise holder for the international pageant, has spoken with the Nigerian Government and the Ministry of Women's Affairs and they have told her that they are putting forward the best possible defence for Miss Lawal. So everybody has been asked to be patient and allow the legal process to go through," she said.
Miss Butler continued that in light of that statement, "We are waiting to see what decision is taken. Right now it is a bit premature to say what we will do, but we will cross that bridge when we reach it."
Regarding the situation in Nigeria, Miss Butler said that personally she found the sentence 'outrageous'.
"I feel very sad about it. In this day and age people cannot be doing things in this manner. But, as I said before, as a national organisation we will wait and see," she said. Nigeria won the right to host this year's Miss World finals after their representative to last year's competition, Agbani Darego, took home the crown. However, the country has been coming under international pressure as 12 states in Northern Nigeria continue to use the Muslim-based Sharia law.
A northern Nigeria court found 30-year-old Amina Lawal guilty of adultery in March, after she bore a child outside of marriage. She appealed the decision, but it was upheld and further decided that the sentence of death by stoning would be carried out as soon as the baby was weaned. A few months earlier another woman who was to face a similar fate won her appeal against the sentence. Miss Lawal's lover was acquitted.
The countries that have threatened to boycott the Miss World competition scheduled for Abuja on November 30 are France, Belgium, Denmark, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Norway and Togo.
Jamaica's representative to Miss World 2002 is 18-year-old Danielle Ohayon.
