A Kaduna High Court will rule on the defence counsel’s No-Case-Submission in the ‘secret trial’ of the leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Ibrahim Zakzaky, and his wife Zeenat on July 28.
Presiding Judge, Justice Gideon Kurada, at the resumed hearing Thursday adjourned the trial to July after the prosecution and counsel to the defendants addressed the court on the no-case submission prayer.
Lead counsel to Zakzaky, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, who spoke to journalists after the adjournment, prayed the court to rule in favour of his clients, saying, “The prosecution and the defence addressed the court on the no-case-submission prayer.
“We indicate at the last hearing that even though the prosecution called 15 witnesses, we felt that no case had been established to warrant our clients being in court, in other words, we addressed the court that there is nothing to defend.”
He noted that the court took counsel’s addresses and adjourned the matter to July 28 for ruling on the No-Case-Submission.
It could be recalled that the lead counsel to the Kaduna State Government, Mr. Dari Bayero, had at the close of their submission on March 31, prayed the court to sentence the defendants.
He then asked the court to overrule the defence and sentence Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, as provided by the law.
“We are satisfied with the way the case has gone so far, we have presented 15 witnesses, including Army generals, who are key actors and players that led to the filing of the case against the IMN leader.
“One of our prayers is that the court should overrule the No-Case-Submission, overrule the defence, convict the defendants accordingly and pass the necessary sentence as provided for in the law,” Bayero said during the last sitting.
El-Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat are being charged by the Kaduna State Government on eight counts, bordering on culpable homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of public peace, among other charges.
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