- Title: NIGERIA: Three Lebanese sue Nigerian authorities for incarceration
- Date: 13th June 2013
- Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (JUNE 13, 2013) (REUTERS) VEHICLES CARRYING ARRESTED LEBANESE ARRIVING IN COURT LAWYERS WALKING INTO THE COURT ROOM SECURITY PERSONNEL STANDING CLOSE TO A VEHICLE VARIOUS OF LEBANESE COMING OUT OF VEHICLE AND WALKING INTO THE COURT ROOM FEMALE RELATIVE OF LEBANESE WALKING INTO THE COURT ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROBERT CLARK, COUNSEL FOR THE DEFENCE, SAYING: "We have been incarcerated, we don't know why we have been incarcerated, for over forty days and the constitution is clear, we have not been charged for any offense and what we are asking the court today is that the liberty of the individuals, as guaranteed under the constitution, we are asking this honourable court to enforce it for us by releasing them on bail or try them through due processes of the court." VARIOUS OF LEBANESE NATIONALS COMING OUT OF THE COURT ROOM RELATIVES OF ARRESTED LEBANESE STANDING OUTSIDE THE COURT ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROBERT CLARK, COUNSEL TO THE DEFENSE, SAYING: "We are asking for damages. We are asking for one billion naira (6,248,047 US dollars) as damages for the unlawful incarceration." VARIOUS OF SECURITY VEHICLE PARKED WITHIN COURT PREMISES EXTERIOR OF ABUJA FEDERAL HIGH COURT
- Embargoed: 28th June 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Crime
- Reuters ID: LVA7JT96QW5WBZG09B1PUVWSHS05
- Story Text: Three Lebanese men arrested in northern Nigeria last month on suspicion of being members of Hezbollah appeared in a Nigerian court on Thursday (June 13) to sue the Nigerian authorities for not pressing charges against them.
The three suspects were arrested between May 16 and May 28 in the north's biggest city Kano, which led to a raid on one of their residences where a stash of heavy weapons was discovered.
The Lebanese, frustrated with the delays, decided to sue the Nigerian authorities for arresting and detaining them without following due process.
"We have been incarcerated, we don't know why we have been incarcerated, for over forty days and the constitution is clear, we have not been charged for any offense and what we are asking the court today is that the liberty of the individuals as guaranteed under the constitution, we are asking this honourable court to enforce it for us by releasing them on bail or try them through due processes of the court ," said defence lawyer Robert Clark.
"We are asking for damages, we are asking for one billion naira (6,248,047 US dollars) as damages for the unlawful incarceration," Clark added.
The judge has adjourned the case until June 21.
Authorities believe there has been a growing involvement of al-Qaeda-linked foreign jihadists in Nigeria's insurgency.
An alliance between Salafist Sunni Muslim Boko Haram and Shi'ite Hezbollah would be unusual, and there has never previously been evidence of such a link.
Though most Nigerian Muslims are Sunni, there are several thousand Shi'ite Nigerians, a legacy of Muslim radical Ibrahim Zakzaky's preachings since the 1980s.
Zakzaky still leads Nigeria's main Shi'ite movement and has campaigned for an Islamic government and stricter adherence to sharia law.
A Nigerian court sentenced an alleged member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and a Nigerian accomplice to five years in prison last month over an illegal shipment of mortars and rockets seized in the main port of Lagos in 2010. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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