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MRA and JODER Condemn On-going Trial of
Editor by Special Military Tribunal
Media Rights Agenda (MRA) and Journalists
for Democratic Rights (JODER) condemn the on-going trial of the
Editor of the Diet newspaper, Mr. Niran Malaolu by the Special
Military Tribunal set up to try persons accused of involvement in the
alleged coup plot of last December.
In calling for the release of Mr. Malaolu, both
organizations hereby draw attention to the following facts:
1. Mr.
Malaolu was initially arrested in connection with a story on the alleged
coup plot which was published in the Sunday Diet newspaper of
December 28, 1990.
2. Mr.
Malaolu did not write the story, neither did he contribute to it. In
fact, Mr. Malaolu is not on the editorial staff of the Sunday Diet.
He is Editor of the daily newspaper, The Diet.
3. It
defies all but the most twisted logic that a civilian journalist can be
arrested for a story he did not write, which in fact is not an offence
even if he wrote the story and then suddenly he tried along with the
alleged coup plotters.
4. Even
while Mr. Malaolu was in detention, the Government had denied that no
journalist was arrested in connection with the alleged coup plot thereby
giving the impression that the journalist was not being held over the
coup.
5. Against
the background that the principal accused, General Oladipo Diya, has
publicly stated that the accused military personnel were set up, it is
logistically consistent to assume that Mr. Malaolu was framed.
6. If
for the purpose of an academic argument, it is to be considered that Mr.
Malaolu is in anyway connected to the alleged plot, as a civilian, the
place to try him is in an appropriate court of law (in this case, a
Federal High Court) under the relevant provisions of the Constitution.
This is a right, not a privilege.
7. Under
the said provisions, therefore, Mr. Malaolu is fully entitled to be tried
in public and defended by a civilian lawyer of his choice.
8. Taking
into account the above, it is therefore illegal to try a civilian
journalist before a judicial court of military, air force or naval
personnel which is better known by the name court
martial.
9. This
is more so considering that the Nigerian Government is a signatory to
international human rights instruments such as the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (UDHR), International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR), and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR),
which guarantee the right to fair trial by an impartial and independent
judicial body.
10. The
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, at its 17th
Ordinary Session held in Lome, Togo from March 13 to 22, 1995, adopted a
resolution on Nigeria in which it condemned “the continued gross and
massive violations of human rights in Nigeria”, particularly “circumscribing
the independence of the judiciary and setting up military tribunals
lacking in independence and due process to try persons suspected of being
opposed to the military regime”. It called upon “the military
government in Nigeria to ensure respect for human rights and the rule of
law, and in particular … allow unfettered exercise of jurisdiction by the
courts and remove all military tribunals from the
judiciary system.”
11. Furthermore,
Principle 5 of the Untied Nations Principles on the Independence of the
Judiciary stipulates that “Everyone shall have the right to be tried by
ordinary courts or tribunals using established legal procedures.
Tribunals that do not use the duly established procedures of the legal
process shall not be created to displace the jurisdiction belonging to the
ordinary courts of judicial tribunals.” The UN Human Rights Committee,
established under the ICCPR to monitor compliance with the provisions of
the Covenant, has also stated (in Un Doc. CCPR/C/79/Add.3, Para. 9, of
August 9, 1993 – Comment on Report of Egypt) that “military courts should
not have faculty to try cases which do not refer to offences committed by
members of armed forces in the course of their duties.”
In the light of these facts, MRA and JODER believer that no
basis exists for the trial of Mr. Malaolu before a military tribunal and
indeed before any court. We view his trial as an attempt to harass and
intimidate the media in line with the Federal Military Government’s
earlier threat.
In any event, MRA and JODER hereby insist on the right of
the public to follow the trial through media coverage as the matter is not
exclusively military and its outcome could have adverse and lasting
implications on the entire polity.
Edetaen
Ojo Adewale
Adeoye
Executive
Director Chairman
Media Rights
Agenda Journalists for
Democratic Rights
24, Mbonu Ojike Close, Surulere
3, Adeola Street, Somolu
Lagos
Lagos
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