Headline

ECOWAS Court Dismisses Suit Against FG Over Shrine Destruction

Published

7 months ago

February 13, 2025

The ECOWAS Court on Thursday dismissed a suit filed by a Nigerian woman, Lovina Adonor, seeking to compel the Federal Government to pay her reparation for the destruction of her shrine.

Adonor, a self-acclaimed priestess, had filed the suit marked ECW/CCJ/APP/61/22, seeking the enforcement of her fundamental human rights against Nigeria.

Adonor, had, in her submission, claimed that her shrine was attacked and vandalised by some private individuals, forcing her to flee the community due to threats to her life.

She also alleged that the Nigerian government failed to provide adequate protection, investigate her complaints, or address the destruction of her religious materials and property.

According to the applicant, the incident was tantamount to the violation of her right to propagate her religion, the right to security, and the right to own property without discrimination.

She had argued that such violated rights were encapsulated under ECOWAS basic texts and international human rights instruments, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR).

Delivering judgement, however, Justice Sengu Koroma, the Judge Rapporteur, declined to grant the applicant’s prayer for any reparations or order for a perpetual injunction against the respondent.

The court held that Adonor failed to establish a direct connection between the alleged violation of her rights and the Nigerian government or its agents.

The court further held that Nigeria had adequately investigated the complaints, while the individuals responsible for the alleged acts were private citizens who had been detained and later released after due process.

“Additionally, the applicant’s claims under Articles 3, 6, 12, 14, and 21 of the ACHPR are dismissed for lack of facts sufficient and evidence to warrant relief sought thereunder.

“Furthermore, the national laws, such as Section 43 of the Nigerian Constitution, are outside of the court’s competence,” the court said.

The court explained that after reviewing both parties’ submissions, it affirmed its jurisdiction to entertain the suit because the case pertained to alleged human rights violations within an ECOWAS member state.

It added that the application was admissible because the applicant had sufficiently demonstrated her victim status and also met the necessary procedural requirements.

The three-member panel of the court, which has Justices Ricardo Gonçalves (presiding), Sengu Koroma (rapporteur), and Edward Asante (member), ordered that both parties bear their own costs.
(NAN)

Headline

Syrian Ex-leader Assad Faces War Crime Charges For Killing Journalists

Published

10 hours ago

September 2, 2025

Editor

French judicial authorities have issued arrest warrants for ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and six other top former officials over the bombardment of a rebel-held city in 2012 that killed two journalists, lawyers said Tuesday.

Marie Colvin, 56, an American working for The Sunday Times of Britain, and French photographer Remi Ochlik, 28, were killed on February 22, 2012, by the explosion in the eastern city of Homs, which is being investigated by the French judiciary as a potential crime against humanity as well as a war crime.

British photographer Paul Conroy, French reporter Edith Bouvier, and Syrian translator Wael Omar were wounded in the attack on the informal press centre where they had been working.

Assad escaped with his family to Russia after being ousted by Islamist rebels at the end of 2024, although his precise whereabouts have not been confirmed.

Other than Assad, the warrants notably target his brother Maher al-Assad, who was the de facto head of the 4th Syrian armoured division at the time, intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk, and then-army chief of staff Ali Ayoub.

“The issuing of the seven arrest warrants is a decisive step that paves the way for a trial in France for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime,” said Clemence Bectarte, lawyer for the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Ochlik’s parents.

The FIDH said the journalists had clandestinely entered the besieged city to “document the crimes committed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime” and were victims of a “targeted bombing”.

“The investigation clearly established that the attack on the informal press centre was part of the Syrian regime’s explicit intention to target foreign journalists to limit media coverage of its crimes and force them to leave the city and the country,” said Mazen Darwish, lawyer and director of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM).

Colvin was known for her fearless reporting and signature black eye patch, which she wore after losing sight in one eye in an explosion during Sri Lanka’s civil war. Her career was celebrated in a Golden Globe-nominated film, “A Private War”.

AFP

Headline

Ghana’s President Sacks Chief Justice Over Corruption Allegations

Published

1 day ago

September 1, 2025

Editor

President John Dramani Mahama has dismissed the Chief Justice of Ghana following the outcome of a high-level investigation into allegations of falsifying judicial records and misusing public funds.

A five-member commission, chaired by a Supreme Court judge and set up by Mahama, concluded that the allegations against the country’s top judicial officer were substantiated and recommended her removal.

“After considering the petition and the evidence, the Committee found that the grounds of stated misbehaviour under Article 146(1) had been established and recommended her removal from office,” said the spokesperson to the President, Felix Ofosu, in a statement on Monday.

“President John Dramani Mahama has accordingly removed the Chief Justice from office with immediate effect.”

The dismissal marks the first time a sitting Chief Justice in Ghana has been investigated and dismissed from office.

While Mahama, who took office in January, has repeatedly pledged to intensify the fight against corruption, it remains unclear whether the embattled Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkonoo, will face criminal prosecution.

Headline

Danish Court Sentences Ex-minister To Prison For Child Abuse Material

Published

1 day ago

September 1, 2025

Editor

A former Danish government minister was jailed for four months on Monday for possession of thousands of images of child sexual abuse.

Henrik Sass Larsen, once a senior Social Democrat who served as industry minister, admitted to having more than 6,000 photographs and 2,000 videos on his computer depicting sexual abuse of children.

He had denied the charges, saying he had the material because he was trying to find out who had abused him as a child.

Prosecutor Maria Cingari said she was “satisfied” with the verdict but added that it was sad that someone “who managed to make the most out of their life despite a bad start finds himself in such a situation.”

“You should never be in possession of child pornography, no matter the reason,” Cingari added.

During his trial, the 59-year-old told the court he had received a link in 2018 to a 50-year-old video showing him being sexually abused when he was three years old.

He testified that he received another video clip in 2020, in which a three-year-old girl was raped in his presence when he was around the same age.

The two videos disappeared after he viewed them, he said.

He told the court he regretted not having contacted the police when he received the videos.

Sass Larsen was also accused of being in possession of a child sex doll, but the court did not find him guilty on that charge.

His lawyer, Berit Ernst, told reporters that “we’ll see if it is a definitive end or if we will appeal.”

The scandal came to light last March and led to his expulsion from the Social Democratic Party.

At the time, Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expressed her shock over the case.

AFP