NIGERIA. COURT DROPS TREASON CHARGE AGAINST YOUNG FOOTBALLERS
a Nigerian court found 53 young men who attempted to stage a football tournament in honour of the defunct separatist "Republic of Biafra" not guilty of treason, saving them from the gallows.
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a Nigerian court found 53 young men who attempted to stage a football tournament in honour of the defunct separatist "Republic of Biafra" not guilty of treason, saving them from the gallows.
Justice Idowu Awokulehin, sitting in the Federal High Court in Lagos, said that 25 of the defendants had no case to answer while 28 would face trial on the lesser charge of membership of an illegal organisation.
If the remaining suspects were found guilty of belonging to the Movement for the Actualisation of a Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), which they had not denied, they would face three years in jail rather than the death penalty.
Justice Idowu Awokulehin, sitting in the Federal High Court in Lagos, said that 25 of the defendants had no case to answer while 28 would face trial on the lesser charge of membership of an illegal organisation.
If the remaining suspects were found guilty of belonging to the Movement for the Actualisation of a Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), which they had not denied, they would face three years in jail rather than the death penalty.
— SOURCES
- (Sources: Agence France Presse, 06/07/2005)
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