The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has described the charges against the convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore, and Olawale Bakare, alias Mandate, as a mockery of the judicial system in Nigeria.
Recall that Sowore, the Publisher of Sahara Reporters and Bakare, were charged with seven count of treasonable felony, money laundering and insulting President Muhammadu Buhari.
The charges followed the defendants role in national protest in August against the state of the nation.
In an open letter by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oludare, on Sunday, SERAP called on the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, to enter a nolle prosequi to terminate the charges.
He said the charges, particularly those centred on insulting President Muhammadu Buhari would only make a mockery of the Nigerian criminal justice system.
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The anti-democracy group advised the AGF to activate his power of nolle prosequi under Section 174 of the constitution to discontinue the charges against Sowore and Bakare as well as “several other similar trumped-up cases going on in several states,” describing them as “persecution and not prosecution.”
The letter read in part: “Sowore’s case and several similar cases instigated/brought by state governors make a hideous mockery of Nigeria’s criminal justice system, rule of law, freedom of expression and media freedom.
“These cases are persecution and not prosecution. As a guardian of the public interest, you (Malami) have a role to end this travesty now, and to maintain the sanctity and integrity of Nigeria’s justice system.
“These cases set a dangerous precedent for the misuse and subversion of the justice system, which may lead to the politicisation of judiciary. This will be bad for everyone – ordinary citizens, journalists and even the politicians in power, as they may themselves become targets of these repressive and abusive tactics when they are out of power/in opposition.”
Acknowledging that it was the responsibility of the Federal Government to prevent and prosecute criminal offences, SERAP noted that the government ought to do so lawfully, and in full compliance with human rights and the rule of law.
