·
James
Ibori is presently in court, set be released.
· British
Government lawyers fail in their bid to keep Ibori in further detention.
·
British
Home Secretary acting unlawfully and misusing her powers
Drama in the British
High Court today as senior lawyers for the UK’s Home Office failed in their
last minute bid to prevent Ibori’s release.
The apparent decision
to block Ibori’s release and detain him appears to have come from the highest
echelons of the UK Government - the Home Secretary who was accused in today’s
haering of acting unlawfully and misusing her powers.
Sian Davies, the Crown
Prosecution lawyer did not object to Ibori’s return to Nigeria, yet at the last
minute the Home Office stepped in.
There is clear discord
between the two arms of the British Government.
Ibori’s team was led
by Ian McDonald QC, the leading QC on immigration.
The visibly irritated
Judge could not understand the Home Secretary’s position and at times was
critical of the move to detain Ibori any further.
Mrs Justice May
rejected the Home Secretary’s requests for conditions to be imposed and ordered
Ibori’s immediate release.
Ivan Krolic, who also
attended explained that Ibori’s confiscation proceedings collapsed in 2013,
after the Prosecution was unable to establish any theft from the Delta State
and any benefit for Ibori.
A three-week hearing
which heard live evidence was abandoned by the prosecutors – Wass QC and
Shutzer-Weissman. Both prosecutors, who have since been dismissed from the case
for gross misconduct.
Krollic further
explained that British police officers in the case led by DC McDonald, have
again been referred to the Independent police Complaints Commission and now
face a through investigation into their corrupt activities in this case.
The CPS has confirmed
officers in the case were corrupt. It has since disclosed substantial material
evidencing the graft.
Ibori and others have
long maintained that this prosecution was politically motivated.
It was funded by the
UK’s Department for International Development DFID, whose senior employee was
also the jury foreperson in one of the earlier trials.
The Ibori case has
been plagued with British police corruption, exceptional prosecutorial
misconduct and fundamental non-disclosure.
A multitude of Appeals
have now been launched or are in the process of being launched.
Comments
Post a Comment