- The former Delta state governor, James Onanefe Ibori, has taken the UK to an European court to appeal his conviction
- The former governor is appealing his case on the basis that the Britain court that ruled against him disobeyed its own laws on his case
- Ibori is challenging the ruling despite the fact that the guilty plea he already made
The former Delta state governor, James Onanefe Ibori, has taken the UK to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in France to appeal the conviction against him by a London court.
The European court on Tuesday, April 16, received the papers that were filed for the appeal challenging the London court ruling, The Nation reports.
READ ALSO: Minimum wage: Show more commitment to your work - Buhari tells workers
The basis for the appeal, according the filed appeal, is that Britain rushed to convict the former governor and in the process disobeyed its own laws.
The counsel of Ibori argued, among other things, that the UK ‘s disobedience of its laws renders every other thing in the case faulty, including Ibori’s guilty plea.
He said: “This application concerns an unusual provision of United Kingdom law: s17 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (‘RIPA’).
“It prohibits any reference, in any proceedings, to an intercepted communication or its contents – e.g. an intercepted phone call – in circumstances in which its origin as an intercepted communication is disclosed or could be inferred.
"The UK is virtually unique in having such a provision: intercepted communications are used routinely as evidence in court proceedings throughout Europe and the rest of the world.
“Ibori’s counsel alleged that the operation of s17 of RIPA, as applied in the highly unusual circumstances of his case, resulted in a violation of Ibori’s rights pursuant to Article 6 of ECHR. This actually is the crux of the matter, according to Ibori’s counsel, because Britain’s failure to obey its own laws has rendered every other thing that followed, including Ibori’s guilty plea later, defective.”
The counsel said that despite his client pleaded guilty, he is appeal the ruling in the light of “new material” that has come up.
PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update
Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that the embattled former chief justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, rejected the judgement of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) which found him guilty of the the charges of false and non-declaration of assets preferred against him.
Onnoghen filed a notice of appeal at the Court of Appeal in Abuja to challenge the ruling of the tribunal. The federal government was listed as the only respondent.
NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: We have upgraded to serve you better
Top 5 the Richest People of Nigeria: The Luxury of Corruption | Legit TV
Source: Legit.ng
from Legit.ng: Latest Nigeria News Today & Breaking Naija News 24/7 http://bit.ly/2VT6BxT
via EDUPEDIA24/7
Comments
Post a Comment