Terrorism: FG loses bid for Boko Harrm suspects secret trial -Court to protect identities of witnesses i The federal government yesterday lost its bid for secret trial of Kogi state university lecturer, Dr Mohammed Yunus and two others who are currently standing trial for allegedly sponsoring the deadly activities of the dreaded Boko Haram sect. Ruling in the secret trial application before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday, the trial judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole held that the court is mindful of the accused persons right to fair hearing and the need to protect the identities of witnesses from the general public as it is done in advanced democracies where cases of terrorism are tried. Justice Kolawole said: To balance the conflicting interests of fair trial as prescribed by the constitution and not to unjustly expose ordinary citizens to danger; who have decided to give evidence on behalf of the state; if the court fails to give minimum comfort to witnesses, it will get to a stage where the state will no longer find witnesses. The court further held that: In advanced democracies of the world, cases of terrorism have led to a legal regime of protection of witnesses. I shall not shut down the entire court room, but shall make adequate provisions to shield the identities of the witnesses including personal securities for those of their families need to be concealed from the general public .The court will guarantee fair hearing to the accused persons and protection to the witnesses, Justice Kolawole assured. The government in an application filed its counsel Mrs. N.B Jones Nebo, Chief State Counsel, Attorney-General of the Federations office, had applied to the court for a secret trial of the accused persons in order to protect the identities of the witnesses. The three accused persons; Dr. Mohammed Yunus, Musa Umar and Salami Abdullahi, were arraigned on an eight-count charge bordering on terrorism. They were arrested in October, 2013, for allegedly holding various meetings aimed at planning to carry out insurgency across the country and have been remanded in prison custody. Nebo also said that the prosecutions motion was brought pursuant to the provisions of Sections 33 and 34 of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2013, as amended, and Section 115 of the Evidence Act. She argued that the application was also filed pursuant to the provisions of Sections 36 and 203 of the Criminal Procedure Act which necessitated the non-disclosure of identities and names of witnesses. Mr Hassan Liman, SAN, Mr James Ocholi, SAN, Mr Abdul Mohammed, counsel to the first, second and third accused, however, all opposed the prosecutions application in separate counter-affidavits. They had prayed the court to dismiss, discountenance the said application for lacking merit and being incompetent. Ocholi, for instance, said: ``this application is in conflict with Section 36 (4) of the 1999 Nigerian constitution, which pertains to fundamental rights and fair hearing. ``Fundamental rights, public hearing and fair hearing cannot be separated. ``It is easier for a person to tell a lie in secret than in public as there will be nobody to correct them in secret and, also, where theres no publicity, theres no justice, he said. Jusice Kolawole, adjourned the case to May 6th, 7th and 14th May, 2014, for accelerated hearing.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 19:16:33 +0000
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