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The Kaduna State High Court has granted the embattled leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and his wife Zeenat, leave to seek medical attention abroad.
In his ruling on Monday, Justice Darius Khobo ordered that the IMN leader and his wife be accompanied abroad by officials of the Kaduna State government.
The presiding judge ruled that El-Zakzaky and his wife should proceed to India for medical treatment.
He, however, did not give any time frame as to how long they will stay in India.
No date has been fixed for the defendants to embark on the medical trip.
Reacting to the ruling, counsel to the Kaduna State government, Dari Bayero, said the prosecution team would go back and study the judgement to see if there were grounds for appeal.
Counsel to the El-Zakzakys, Mr Femi Falena, however, clarified the ruling of the court.
According to him, the judgement is just to grant the IMN leader and his wife leave to seek medical attention abroad and not an outright bail
The trial of El-Zakzaky and his wife is expected to resume as soon as they return from their medical treatment.
Mr Falana, a human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, filed the application on behalf of his clients on July 18.
At an earlier hearing on Monday last week, the senior lawyer told Justice Khobo that his clients were not in court due to their bad health condition.
He said the health condition of his clients was getting worse by the day, adding that only a foreign medical treatment was required to stabilise them to enable them face the main trial.
But Mr Bayero opposed the application, saying El-Zakzaky’s medical condition could be treated in the country.
He informed the court that there was no need to release the Shiites’ leader on bail to travel abroad.
El-Zakzaky and his wife are facing an eight-count of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, disturbance of public peace.
The charges were filed against them by the Kaduna State Government and the duo were first arraigned in May 2018.
Leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, has been in detention for the past four years.
The two were arrested in Kaduna in 2015 after soldiers killed over 300 members of the IMN for allegedly throwing stones at the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai, an act declared by the Army to be an assassination attempt.
Corporal Yakubu Dankaduna, a soldier, was allegedly killed by IMN members when he alighted from Buratai's convoy to disperse the group's procession during the confrontation.
The government ignored a December 2016 ruling of a Federal High Court to release them.
In May 2018, El-Zakzaky and Zinat were eventually arraigned before the Kaduna High Court and charged with unlawful gathering, criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide, and denied bail by the court months later in November.
In a fresh application filed on July 18, the defendants asked to be allowed to travel to India for medical attention due to their failing health conditions.
The defendants' counsel, Femi Falana (SAN), said not less than eight medical reports from local and foreign doctors agree that they require urgent medical attention "which is not locally available".
During the court's ruling on the Monday, August 5, Justice Darius Khobo granted El-Zakzaky and Zinat medical leave to travel to India.
He ruled that the defendants will be accompanied by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS), as well as other officials of the Kaduna State government.
The defendants will also remain at the approved Medanta Hospital in New Delhi, India until they make a complete recovery after which they'll return to Nigeria for the continuation of the trial.
El-Zakzaky's continued detention has led to allegations of persecution by members of his sect who have taken to the streets several times in protest, leading to clashes with security agencies that have left dozens dead and hundreds incarcerated over the past year.
Last month, the Federal Government secured a court order to proscribe the group's activities and brand it a terrorist organisation, a move that has been widely criticised.
DISQUS
The Kaduna State High Court has granted the embattled leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and his wife Zeenat, leave to seek medical attention abroad.
The presiding judge ruled that El-Zakzaky and his wife should proceed to India for medical treatment.
He, however, did not give any time frame as to how long they will stay in India.
No date has been fixed for the defendants to embark on the medical trip.
Reacting to the ruling, counsel to the Kaduna State government, Dari Bayero, said the prosecution team would go back and study the judgement to see if there were grounds for appeal.
Counsel to the El-Zakzakys, Mr Femi Falena, however, clarified the ruling of the court.
According to him, the judgement is just to grant the IMN leader and his wife leave to seek medical attention abroad and not an outright bail
The trial of El-Zakzaky and his wife is expected to resume as soon as they return from their medical treatment.
Mr Falana, a human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, filed the application on behalf of his clients on July 18.
At an earlier hearing on Monday last week, the senior lawyer told Justice Khobo that his clients were not in court due to their bad health condition.
He said the health condition of his clients was getting worse by the day, adding that only a foreign medical treatment was required to stabilise them to enable them face the main trial.
But Mr Bayero opposed the application, saying El-Zakzaky’s medical condition could be treated in the country.
He informed the court that there was no need to release the Shiites’ leader on bail to travel abroad.
El-Zakzaky and his wife are facing an eight-count of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, disturbance of public peace.
The charges were filed against them by the Kaduna State Government and the duo were first arraigned in May 2018.
Leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, has been in detention for the past four years.
The two were arrested in Kaduna in 2015 after soldiers killed over 300 members of the IMN for allegedly throwing stones at the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai, an act declared by the Army to be an assassination attempt.
Corporal Yakubu Dankaduna, a soldier, was allegedly killed by IMN members when he alighted from Buratai's convoy to disperse the group's procession during the confrontation.
The government ignored a December 2016 ruling of a Federal High Court to release them.
In May 2018, El-Zakzaky and Zinat were eventually arraigned before the Kaduna High Court and charged with unlawful gathering, criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide, and denied bail by the court months later in November.
In a fresh application filed on July 18, the defendants asked to be allowed to travel to India for medical attention due to their failing health conditions.
The defendants' counsel, Femi Falana (SAN), said not less than eight medical reports from local and foreign doctors agree that they require urgent medical attention "which is not locally available".
During the court's ruling on the Monday, August 5, Justice Darius Khobo granted El-Zakzaky and Zinat medical leave to travel to India.
He ruled that the defendants will be accompanied by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS), as well as other officials of the Kaduna State government.
The defendants will also remain at the approved Medanta Hospital in New Delhi, India until they make a complete recovery after which they'll return to Nigeria for the continuation of the trial.
El-Zakzaky's continued detention has led to allegations of persecution by members of his sect who have taken to the streets several times in protest, leading to clashes with security agencies that have left dozens dead and hundreds incarcerated over the past year.
Last month, the Federal Government secured a court order to proscribe the group's activities and brand it a terrorist organisation, a move that has been widely criticised.
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DISQUS
