Court Adjourns El-Zakzaky’s Trial to February 24

A Kaduna High Court yesterday fixed February 24 and February 25, 2020 for the trial of leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat.

The presiding judge, Justice Gideon Kurada, at the resumed hearing of the case yesterday again adjourned the case to allow the defendants appear in court to take their plea.

Counsel to the defendants, Mr. Femi Falana, (SAN) told journalists after the adjournment that the defendants were not in court due to the poor state of health of Zeenat, the second defendant in the trial.

The IMN leader and his wife Zeenat are standing trial over allegations of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of the public peace, among other charges, in another court.

Falana said, Justice Kurada had granted the defendants’ application to allow them access to their personal physicians to enable them appear in court and take their plea at the next adjournment date.

He said the court had also granted the application to amend the charges by the prosecution counsel to reflect that the two other accused persons were still at large.

The senior lawyer noted that the defendants would be in court to take their plea during the next adjournment, especially with the access given to them to their personal physicians. He said the defence counsel were not happy with the way the city of Kaduna was being locked down by security agents every time the case came up.

The High Court had on December 5, 2019 ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) to transfer the IMN leader and his wife to the Nigerian Correctional Centre, Kaduna, to allow his lawyers easy access to him.

Justice Kurada’s order was a sequel to the application by another counsel to the defendants, Haruna Magashi, on December 5, at resumed hearing of the main suit in Kaduna, eight months after the last hearing in March, 2019.