SOUTH AFRICAN High Court judge, Justice Neels Claaseen, said Tuesday that Henry Okah who
was ordered to be put away for 24 years was not given maximum sentence owing to the fact that the struggle of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) is politically-motivated.
The judge, who sentenced Okah on a 13-count charge, held that a maximum sentence (life imprisonment) for Okah will therefore “be inappropriate.”
Also, there would be no extradition for Okah. Reason: He was arrested in South Africa and at the time of his arrest, he had accepted South Africa Residence, though he did not accept the citizenship of South Africa.
Dismissing the application filed late last week Wednesday by Okah seeking that his prosecution was irregular, Justice Claaseen said: “The evidence on record was that he was persona non-grata in Nigeria. He was arrested in South Africa and Nigeria still has death penalty in place for the offence the accused was arrested. South Africa does not have death penalty in its justice system. So, the accused cannot be extradited to Nigeria”.
Yesterday, the judge further held that South Africa being a signatory to the United Nations (UN) Treaty on Terrorism Acts allowed the convict to be tried in South Africa though the events took place in Nigeria.
“As a signatory, South Africa is duty-bound to adopt the treaty and incorporate it into the laws of South Africa, in other words domicile the treaty”, he added.
Continuing, he said: “It is the responsibility of the court in sentencing the convict to take into account the feelings of the world community and to make South Africa unpalatable for terrorists to operate within the jurisdiction as member of the comity of nations.”
According to him, “having found the accused guilty in the 13-count charge of acts of terrorism, it’s now the duty of the court to sentence him, taking into account the position of the victim, the convict and the world community.”
For the judge, all the 13 count charges Okah was convicted of are related to three events. And he reeled them out:
• “The first event is the March 15, 2010 bomb attack where two car bombs occurred at the venue of a political gathering which was being attended by the Delta State Governor in Warri, Delta State, where one person died and several others injured.
The second event occurred on October 1, 2010 in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, where two car bombs exploded killing eight people with several others injured. Third event is the threat to the Nigerian government.
• “All these three events were targeted at embarrassing President Goodluck Jonathan,” Justice Claaseen maintained, adding that the acts are very serious crimes, which must be punished in accordance to the terrorism laws.
The judge was also not pleased with Okah’s comportment. And he said in this regard: “The convict during the trial had never accepted any responsibility nor shown any remorse in spite of the fact that overwhelming evidence linked him with MEND which claimed responsibilities for the bombings. It would, therefore, be wrong for the court to turn a blind eye to the fact that the struggle in the Niger Delta, which led to the events is a political one. The group’s agitation for improved environmental situation and provision of infrastructure in the area is aimed at attracting the Federal Government attention to the plight of the people in the area. Though a good cause, but it does not justify any act of violence and terrorism,” he added.
He further observed yesterday that the court is obliged to impose life imprisonment, which is the maximum sentence due to the political nature of the struggle, adding that the suspended sentence sought by the defence is inappropriate due to the nature of the crime.
“Having considered that the convict does not have any criminal record both in South Africa and in Nigeria before the struggle in the Niger Delta, I am of the considered view that his clean record both in South Africa and Nigeria should add to his sentence mitigation. Also, the fact that his children will suffer emotionally for his absence if maximum sentence is given is considered in mitigation of his sentence,” Claaseen said.
Before delivering judgment yesterday, the judge confessed to having difficulties in determining what the appropriate sentence should be.
He said in this regard “this is not an easy matter to deal with in sentencing. The sentence of the convict to life imprisonment is not appropriate and to give him suspended sentence is equally not appropriate. To strike a balance, the convict is hereby sentenced to 12 years in prison for counts 1,3,5,7, 9 and 11 for the Warri bombings. The accused is sentenced to 12 years for counts 2,4,6,8 and 10 for the Abuja bombings. The accused is sentence to 10 years for the threat to the government of Nigeria… However, the sentence for counts 2,4,6,8,10 and 13 will run concurrently, In all, the accused is hereby sentenced to 24 years in prison.”
Conviction political, illegal, Keyamo insists
ACTIVIST and lawyer, Festus Keyamo, has condemned Henry Okah’s trial, conviction and sentencing by a South African court, insisting that it is both political and illegal.
In a statement, he said: “The decision of the South African court that convicted Henry Okah this (yesterday) morning of charges relating to terrorism is politically- motivated and legally incorrect.
“As counsel to Charles Okah and others, who are facing the same set of charges under Nigerian laws, I have been actively involved in co-ordinating the trials both in South Africa and Nigeria. The fundamental flaw in the trial is that Henry Okah was not given adequate facilities and the opportunity to defend himself.
“This is because after the prosecution closed its case in South Africa, the defence attorneys and my chambers here in Abuja tried frantically to summon the witnesses of Henry Okah, who are based here in Nigeria, to testify on his behalf. These witnesses include some government officials.”
He added: “In this regard, we wrote to the Attorney-General of the Federation who replied and directed that Henry’s counsel in South Africa apply to the court there for an order to secure the legal assistance of the Attorney-General of Nigeria. This was only two weeks ago.
“Without giving Henry’s counsel in South Africa adequate time and facilities to follow the directives, the South African court foreclosed his opportunity to call witnesses and rushed to convict him.
“This is a breach of his fundamental right to fair hearing and an obvious attempt by the South African authorities to please Nigeria at all cost. That is why the judgment is nothing but political.
“It is wrong to convict anybody without due process; Henry has been convicted without due process. I condemn this judgment and call on Nigerians and the international community to condemn the trial and judgment of Henry Okah, whose only offence was his refusal to accept the so-called amnesty offered by the Yar’Adua-Jonathan administration and his insistence on the Niger-Delta controlling its resources.”
From Kelvin Ebiri, Port Harcourt
THE Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has reacted to the conviction and sentencing of Henry Okah, saying it received with disbelief “the 24-year sentence after a sham trial in a South African kangaroo court.”
MEND spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, said the group was disappointed but not surprised that the South African judiciary allowed itself to be compromised by the highly corrupt Nigerian government.
Gbomo added: “The governments of South Africa and Nigeria should realise that this planned sentencing of Henry Okah would not in any way, shape or form change our struggle, as we will remain dedicated to our cause until we achieve full justice and emancipation for the Niger Delta and its people.”
The judge, who sentenced Okah on a 13-count charge, held that a maximum sentence (life imprisonment) for Okah will therefore “be inappropriate.”
Also, there would be no extradition for Okah. Reason: He was arrested in South Africa and at the time of his arrest, he had accepted South Africa Residence, though he did not accept the citizenship of South Africa.
Dismissing the application filed late last week Wednesday by Okah seeking that his prosecution was irregular, Justice Claaseen said: “The evidence on record was that he was persona non-grata in Nigeria. He was arrested in South Africa and Nigeria still has death penalty in place for the offence the accused was arrested. South Africa does not have death penalty in its justice system. So, the accused cannot be extradited to Nigeria”.
Yesterday, the judge further held that South Africa being a signatory to the United Nations (UN) Treaty on Terrorism Acts allowed the convict to be tried in South Africa though the events took place in Nigeria.
“As a signatory, South Africa is duty-bound to adopt the treaty and incorporate it into the laws of South Africa, in other words domicile the treaty”, he added.
Continuing, he said: “It is the responsibility of the court in sentencing the convict to take into account the feelings of the world community and to make South Africa unpalatable for terrorists to operate within the jurisdiction as member of the comity of nations.”
According to him, “having found the accused guilty in the 13-count charge of acts of terrorism, it’s now the duty of the court to sentence him, taking into account the position of the victim, the convict and the world community.”
For the judge, all the 13 count charges Okah was convicted of are related to three events. And he reeled them out:
• “The first event is the March 15, 2010 bomb attack where two car bombs occurred at the venue of a political gathering which was being attended by the Delta State Governor in Warri, Delta State, where one person died and several others injured.
The second event occurred on October 1, 2010 in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, where two car bombs exploded killing eight people with several others injured. Third event is the threat to the Nigerian government.
• “All these three events were targeted at embarrassing President Goodluck Jonathan,” Justice Claaseen maintained, adding that the acts are very serious crimes, which must be punished in accordance to the terrorism laws.
The judge was also not pleased with Okah’s comportment. And he said in this regard: “The convict during the trial had never accepted any responsibility nor shown any remorse in spite of the fact that overwhelming evidence linked him with MEND which claimed responsibilities for the bombings. It would, therefore, be wrong for the court to turn a blind eye to the fact that the struggle in the Niger Delta, which led to the events is a political one. The group’s agitation for improved environmental situation and provision of infrastructure in the area is aimed at attracting the Federal Government attention to the plight of the people in the area. Though a good cause, but it does not justify any act of violence and terrorism,” he added.
He further observed yesterday that the court is obliged to impose life imprisonment, which is the maximum sentence due to the political nature of the struggle, adding that the suspended sentence sought by the defence is inappropriate due to the nature of the crime.
“Having considered that the convict does not have any criminal record both in South Africa and in Nigeria before the struggle in the Niger Delta, I am of the considered view that his clean record both in South Africa and Nigeria should add to his sentence mitigation. Also, the fact that his children will suffer emotionally for his absence if maximum sentence is given is considered in mitigation of his sentence,” Claaseen said.
Before delivering judgment yesterday, the judge confessed to having difficulties in determining what the appropriate sentence should be.
He said in this regard “this is not an easy matter to deal with in sentencing. The sentence of the convict to life imprisonment is not appropriate and to give him suspended sentence is equally not appropriate. To strike a balance, the convict is hereby sentenced to 12 years in prison for counts 1,3,5,7, 9 and 11 for the Warri bombings. The accused is sentenced to 12 years for counts 2,4,6,8 and 10 for the Abuja bombings. The accused is sentence to 10 years for the threat to the government of Nigeria… However, the sentence for counts 2,4,6,8,10 and 13 will run concurrently, In all, the accused is hereby sentenced to 24 years in prison.”
Conviction political, illegal, Keyamo insists
ACTIVIST and lawyer, Festus Keyamo, has condemned Henry Okah’s trial, conviction and sentencing by a South African court, insisting that it is both political and illegal.
In a statement, he said: “The decision of the South African court that convicted Henry Okah this (yesterday) morning of charges relating to terrorism is politically- motivated and legally incorrect.
“As counsel to Charles Okah and others, who are facing the same set of charges under Nigerian laws, I have been actively involved in co-ordinating the trials both in South Africa and Nigeria. The fundamental flaw in the trial is that Henry Okah was not given adequate facilities and the opportunity to defend himself.
“This is because after the prosecution closed its case in South Africa, the defence attorneys and my chambers here in Abuja tried frantically to summon the witnesses of Henry Okah, who are based here in Nigeria, to testify on his behalf. These witnesses include some government officials.”
He added: “In this regard, we wrote to the Attorney-General of the Federation who replied and directed that Henry’s counsel in South Africa apply to the court there for an order to secure the legal assistance of the Attorney-General of Nigeria. This was only two weeks ago.
“Without giving Henry’s counsel in South Africa adequate time and facilities to follow the directives, the South African court foreclosed his opportunity to call witnesses and rushed to convict him.
“This is a breach of his fundamental right to fair hearing and an obvious attempt by the South African authorities to please Nigeria at all cost. That is why the judgment is nothing but political.
“It is wrong to convict anybody without due process; Henry has been convicted without due process. I condemn this judgment and call on Nigerians and the international community to condemn the trial and judgment of Henry Okah, whose only offence was his refusal to accept the so-called amnesty offered by the Yar’Adua-Jonathan administration and his insistence on the Niger-Delta controlling its resources.”
From Kelvin Ebiri, Port Harcourt
THE Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has reacted to the conviction and sentencing of Henry Okah, saying it received with disbelief “the 24-year sentence after a sham trial in a South African kangaroo court.”
MEND spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, said the group was disappointed but not surprised that the South African judiciary allowed itself to be compromised by the highly corrupt Nigerian government.
Gbomo added: “The governments of South Africa and Nigeria should realise that this planned sentencing of Henry Okah would not in any way, shape or form change our struggle, as we will remain dedicated to our cause until we achieve full justice and emancipation for the Niger Delta and its people.”
