The embattled leader of Nigeria’s proscribed Islamic Movement, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and his wife have been released by a Kaduna State High Court. Justice Gideon Kurada, the presiding judge, upheld Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife’s no-case submission after an eight-hour hearing.
The Kaduna state government has charged them with culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, and disruption of public order. The prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the defendants, according to the judge. El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat Ibrahim, have been on trial for four years on an eight-count charge of alleged culpable homicide, disruption of the public peace, and unlawful assembly, among other charges, brought by the Kaduna state government against them. Officials from the Nigerian Correctional Service brought the defendants to court on Wednesday morning amid tight security.
Mr Femi Falana, their lead counsel and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, had argued on July 1 that the prosecution’s 15 witnesses had failed to establish any link between the alleged crimes and Sheikh El-Zakzaky and his wife. Falana then asked the court to rule in his clients’ favour and dismiss the charges brought against them, claiming that the Kaduna State Government had yet to establish a criminal case against them.
