Connect with us

Headline

Peter Odili: Court Issues Last Warning, Summons Immigration To Appear

Published

on

Justice Iyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday issued his last warning to a senior lawyer with the Nigerian Immigration Service, Jimoh Abdulkadir Adamu, to appear in Court to defend accusations of “unprofessional conduct” made against him.

The Judge gave him February 7 to appear unfailingly in Court to show cause why disciplinary action should not be taken against him for refusing to release the passport of a former Governor of Rivers State, Chief Peter Odili, which had been seized.

Advertisement

Adamu, who for the second time, declined to appear in Court was given another opportunity of February 7 in the interest of a fair hearing.

During Friday’s proceedings, Odili’s lawyer, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), recalled the order of December 21 last year issued by the Court that Adamu must appear in Court today (Friday) and lamented that for the second time that Adamu was not in Court and had bluntly refused to release the passport as ordered by the Court.

Adedipe said that Adamu has failed to obey a subsisting order that the passport be deposited with the Registrar of the Court, pending the hearing of his motion for stay of execution.

Advertisement

According to him, Adamu had consistently failed to attend court despite being served a hearing notice in relation to his pending motion.

Adedipe urged the Court to, among others, penalise Adamu for disrespecting the Court and treating it with contempt.

At this point, one Babagana Abba, a counsel who claimed to be a colleague of Adamu apologised to the Court for the absence of the senior lawyer adding that he was sick and may find his way to the Court later.

Advertisement

READ ALSO: Police Arrest Three Over Murder Of Abuja Doctor

However, unimpressed with the apology, Justice Ekwo said in the interest of a fair hearing, he would give the lawyer another opportunity.

This Honourable Court knows what to do and how to do it but in the interest of a fair hearing, I am giving him another chance. Let him deny himself fair hearing, then, Court will take necessary steps,” he said.

Advertisement

The PUMCH reports that Justice Ekwo consequently fixed February 7 for the lawyer to appear in court for his defence in the alleged unprofessional conduct.

Adamu has been representing the NIS and its Director-General in a fundamental rights enforcement suit by Odili, with which he challenged the seizure of his international passport by the NIS.

Advertisement

Headline

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

Published

on

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.

Advertisement

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.

READ ALSO:France’s Top Court Annuls Arrest Warrant Against Syria’s Ex-president al-Assad

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.

Advertisement

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.

READ ALSO:US Embassy Warns Americans In Nigeria Of Looming Visa Overstay Penalties

Advertisement

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”.

Advertisement

AFP

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Headline

Ghana’s President Sacks Chief Justice Over Corruption Allegations

Published

on

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.

Advertisement

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.

READ ALSO:Police Bust Lagos-Ghana Sex Trafficking Ring

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

Advertisement

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.

 

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Headline

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

Published

on

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.

Advertisement

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.”

READ ALSO:JUST IN: Finnish Court Jails Simon Ekpa Six Years For Terrorism Offences

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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

READ ALSO:South African Court Affirms 18-year Jail Term For Nigerian Over Human Trafficking

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

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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

AFP

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending