March 25, 2002 By CNN's Jeff Koinange

SOKOTO, Nigeria (CNN) -- A Nigerian mother sentenced to death by stoning has had her sentence quashed.

A sharia appeals court overturned a lower court ruling on technical grounds, the woman's lawyer told CNN.

The lower court in the northwestern state of Sokoto had sentenced Safiya Husaini, 35, to be stoned to death on a charge of adultery.

Sokoto is one of 12 states in the West African country that operate under sharia, or Islamic, law. There are 36 states in Nigeria.

Reports say the woman won the appeal because the alleged adultery was committed before the sharia law was instituted in Sokoto.

The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?
~Jeremy Bentham