Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media - Politics - Nairaland
Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media (3498 Views)
Poll: Is it good to parade suspects before they get a chance to present their case?yes: 11% (7 votes)no: 88% (54 votes) This poll has ended |
FG, EFCC Didn’t Disobey Court Order, Judge Tells Dasuki / Alleged Missing $20bn: Own Up To Your Errors, NNPC Tells Sanusi / PDP Chieftain To Buhari - Stop Parading Yourself As A Saint (2) (3) (4)
| Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by naijaking1: 5:38pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
I know a lot of people don't believe in the concept of "innocent until proven guilty", especially when emotionally charged political issues are concerned, but a judge has gone out his way to caution the CBN governor Sanusi against trying political and professional opponents in the media. While nobody expected the judge to summarily dismiss the charges against the defendant, his direct warning also goes to many memebers of this forum such as biina and ndu-chucks who don't believe that a person is indeed innocent until a court of law(not Sanusi) proves them guilty. [size=28pt]Stop Parading Suspects In The Media, Judge Tells Sanusi, Others [/size] Written by Kenny Odunukan, Lagos Tuesday, 23 March 2010 21:28 Justice Akinjide Ajakaiye of the Federal High Court in Lagos, while delivering a ruling yesterday, said that the act of parading suspects in the media should be stopped. He said, "As much as there is right of expression, such rights must be exercised responsibly". Justice Ajakaiye, however, refused to quash corruption charges preferred against the former Managing Directors of Bank PHB, Francis Atuche and that of Spring Bank Plc, Charles Ojo, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Justice Ajakaiye, while ruling on separate applications brought before him by the former bank chiefs, urging him to dismiss the charges against them on the ground that the allegations are incompetent, frivolous and defective, held that there was no ground for the quashing of the charges and called on them to take their plea. The judge noted that the defence counsel based their argument on the premise that the accused persons were indicted by way of information which, according to the court, is not so. The judge quoted section 33 of the Federal High Court Rules which states that criminal trial shall be conducted according to the Criminal Procedure Rule, that is, that all trial at the Federal High Court shall be by summary trial and not through proof of evidence. Justice Ajakaiye also said: "As against the trial by information, where there is need for proof of evidence in a summary case, the proof of evidence is not required, so, I agree with the prosecution that all the proof of evidence needed to show is possibility and not certainty". On the allegation made by the accused persons that both the EFCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) were issuing negative publications against them, the court held that since the publications took place outside the court, and since the trial will be conducted by proof of evidence and not media report, the court cannot dismiss the case based on the publications. However, the judge warned that the report of court proceedings must be done accurately. He, therefore, dismissed the case and called on the accused persons to take their plea. When the amended charge was read to the accused persons, they pleaded not guilty to all the charges and the judge adjourned the case till June 7 for trial. It would be recalled that the accused persons were earlier arraigned on a 26-count charge, ranging from criminal grant of loans, abuse of office and granting loan, beyond the limit laid down by the regulations of the bank. http://www.nigeriamasterweb.com/paperfrmes.html |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by Nobody: 5:56pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
Sanusi's a garrulous man for real  |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by Beaf: 6:03pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
EFCC is now embroiled in $2 million extorsion saga with an ex-CEO, so the trial by press moves by Sanusi et al might be seen as part of an elaborate greasy scheme. Scratch my back, I free you. . . |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by naijaking1: 6:04pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
Not surprising Atuche and other defendants like Ibru and Akingbola have their own side of the story, the court must be allowed to hear both sides and then decide on guilty vs innocence. [size=28pt]Atuche: Economic group faults CBN, EFCC [/size] | Print | E-mail Written by Odidison Omankhanlen, Lagos The South-South Economic Coalition has refuted allegations against the erstwhile managing director of Bank PHB, Mr. Francis Atuche. In a statement signed by its coordinator, Ifechukwude Nwaolisa, the group argued that it was unfair on the part of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to continue to make unfounded statements in an attempt to disparage the reputation of a professional, whose case was already before a court of competent jurisdiction. Against the background of claims by the EFCC that Atuche has 15 properties across the country, the coalition lamented that Atuche’s late father’s house in his home town as well as a house in which he resided as a tenant were included among the list. The group stated that Atuche only had five properties in Nigeria, of which two were undeveloped plots of land. It added that Atuche also had a sole offshore property, a flat in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, it reminded the public that Atuche was managing director for different institutions for 18 years. “His emoluments over this period could have enabled him to acquire these properties,” the statement added. The group also lamented the allegation by EFCC that Atuche owns N1.5 billion worth of shares in Honeywell Plc; N305,899,418 worth of shares in Arik Air and N500 million shares in Afribank. It reminded the public that Bank PHB had merely, in conjunction with 10 other banks, served as underwriter for Honeywell’s public offer in 2009, adding that N1.5 billion was the value of the public offer for which it served as underwriter on behalf of Honeywell. While refuting claims that Atuche owns shares in Arik Air, it also refuted claims that Atuche owns 500 million units of Afribank shares. The group said Afribank’s shares belonged to Bank PHB and were purchased by the bank in 2007 while it sought to acquire Afribank. The shares, the coalition said, were currently warehoused by PHB Asset Management. On the claims by the EFCC as reported by some newspapers that Atuche has N50 billion in his accounts, the coalition stated that the former bank MD did not have such funds in any or all of his accounts. The group further stated that Atuche’s lawyers, the trio of Anthony Idigbe, Rickey Tarfa and Adeniyi Akintola, had offered to confiscate the money to EFCC to offset Bank PHB’s debt should any such money be found in any or all of his accounts. The South-South Economic Coalition also lamented that Atuche had previously been accused by EFCC of misappropriating $35 million of NNPC’s account domiciled in Bank PHB, whereas such money had since been found never to have been tampered with. It further stated that Atuche had also been accused of buying Global Bank of Liberia for himself at a cost of N2.4 billion. The bank, the coalition stated, had since been found to be known as Bank PHB Liberia, a full-fledged subsidiary of Bank PHB |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by nduchucks: 6:06pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
naijaking1: Stop your false accusations, Im not against due process! I hope when any of these people are convicted, you'd finally find a way to condemn their criminal and irresponsible acts which I believe many of them commited. You failed to highlight the fact that the judge found enough grounds to refuse to quash the corruption charges brought against these people. See below:
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| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by Spyker: 6:08pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
Three gbosa for the Judge: Gbosa, gbosa, gbosaaaaaaaa. Good, now we know that some of the Judges are not eggheads like the Egghead |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by naijaking1: 6:10pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
ndu_chucks: Reminder: You've left a long trail of paper to show your position on this issue. I like the way you say "convicted" Yes, we should just wait for the convictions or aquitals  |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by nduchucks: 6:15pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
naijaking1: I see you have chosen to read my post carefully this time. Now, go and reread other posts and you'll note the consistency. I personally believe that most of the charges against these people are with merit and I expect some of them to be convicted - there is nothing ambiguous about my position. I do not believe that any of them should be labbelled as criminals before conviction, but I reserve the right to believe that they are guilty, before the said conviction. |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by chosen04(f): 6:21pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
Can someone tell Sanusi that the time of trial and conviction through the media is over! |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by jazzsoul: 6:46pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
The police will parade petty thieves in public but when a bank MD steals hundreds of millions of dollars the Judge does not want the public to see the faces of corruption in high places. |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by chosen04(f): 6:53pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
jazzsoul: So when did Sanusi become the Police that should parade the thieving Bank MDs? |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by biina: 6:58pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
I like the way Nigerians extrapolate statements. 1. Parading in the media is the usual habit of the Nigeria police and EFCC of showing accused people as if they have been convicted i.e. being arrested etc. The CBN at no point paraded the executives and at no point in the statement did the judge say or hint otherwise. But the statement has been extrapolated as being directed primarily at Sanusi and the CBN. 2. The second article by the South-South Economic Coalition only provides counters arguments against EFCC but at no point made any reference to specific statements by the CBN that were incorrect but the title implies otherwise. More relevant is that the judge deemed it appropriate to go ahead with the trial, and thus the accused will have their day in court against the EFCC and justice ministry (not CBN), and the opportunity to clear themselves. |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by naijaking1: 7:10pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
jazzsoul: Your analogy of Sanusi with the police speaks volume about your understanding or lack thereof about what it means to be innocent until proven guilty. Anybody who has ever been falsly accused of any wrong-doing or crime would understand these standards. I know that despite your cockeyed rhetorics, you too, my friend would like a court of law to hear your own side of the story, before been rushed to the firing squad. |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by jazzsoul: 7:12pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
So when did Sanusi become the Police that should parade the thieving Bank MDs? ******************* That is the essence of my comment. Sanusi does not have the power of arrest. It is the police and EFCC that arrests these suspects and parades them in public. Was the Judge's order addressed to the police and EFCC and does it cover all suspects arrested for any crime in Nigeria? The police do not always parade suspects in publice at least the wealthy ones. The police will often invite the media when they go to effect an arrest an thus these pictres are splashed all over the Media. |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by naijaking1: 7:29pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
^^^^ The judge's order sounds very basic and easy to understand, unless you're looking at the case through a tinted lens like biina and co, there is no need to misunderstand the simple sentences. Even when the police parades an accussed, they're always careful to call them the alleged criminals. Here in the US, prosecutors go to extra-ordinary length to show that they are neither biased nor already have their minds made up about accussed criminals before going to trial. There's nobody who has been following Sanusi's comments over the past year that would not come to the conclusion that the bank CEOs have not only tried, but have been convicted by him. So we read about salacious articles about how Atuche had 15 properties, stole millions of dollars, and billions of naira, same goes for Ibru, Akingbola, and others. Yet this is not Salem Mass. 1460  |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by chosen04(f): 7:36pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
jazzsoul: I really tired to make sense out of ur post, but Alas, i CANT get what you are trying to say (No pun intended) Pls can you paraphrase? |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by jazzsoul: 7:36pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
Naijaking, did you read the news in the U.S about all the properties that were owned by Bernie Maddoff before he ever went to trial. How do you think all that information came out to the Media? Did you read about Mark Sanford and his properties in the Bahamas. He has not even gone to trial. I have lived in the U.S since 1981 so I do not need lectures about U.S justice system or media. |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by chosen04(f): 7:47pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
jazzsoul: It came from his written testimony to the police. Not the Police forcing him to accept properties that are not his, as Sanusi has being claiming the Bank MDs own properties most of them have rejected outrightly and even boldly forfeited to the govt just to prove its not theirs |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by SwtzMinx(f): 8:08pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
.*yawn*. |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by SwtzMinx(f): 8:08pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
.*yawn*. |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by SwtzMinx(f): 8:10pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
.*yawn*. |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by biina: 8:13pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
chosen04:Source please? or Sanusi is now the EFCC? |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by naijaking1: 8:14pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
jazzsoul: Good to know you've been living in the US since? 1774  That's fine, but why do we always misunderstand things especially to suit our myopic purposes  Despite the fact those assets were from his own declaration to the police, Maddoff remained an "accussed" until he was justly tried and convicted. No where, no time did Ben Bernake(US equivalent of Sanusi) go about having repeated orgasms about how Maddoff caused the collapse of Wall Street, even before he was tried. If he had done that, Maddoff could have walked off scott free, because it's called tainting the jury pool, and no prosecutor can possibly convict anybody like that---I'm sure that haven lived in the US for a long time, you already kew that, |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by Nobody: 8:17pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
@ topic since the media put him there, that's why he's working closely with them. |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by naijaking1: 8:18pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
biina: Source? Read the article above. Next, you will ask for article to prove the numerous public statements Sanusi has been making against the Ibrus, Akingbolas, and Atuches of this World. |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by biina: 8:19pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
naijaking1:Yes, it is very basic and easy to understand that at no point did the judge make a reference to Sanusi or the CBN when cautioning on the act of parading suspects in the media, nor is their any record of the CBN parading the suspects. You and the author are simply extrapolating beyond the scope of the actual statements. Sanusi is not the EFCC chairman. |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by biina: 8:21pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
naijaking1:So where in the article did Sanusi state that the Bank MDs owned properties that were not theirs? Simply point it out (a simple quote or link will suffice) and stop misrepresenting the facts. |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by naijaking1: 8:57pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
biina: Splitting hair, and trying to change the subject will not do. Is it any secret that EFCC charges were based on the so-called impeccable CBN findings: from owing 15 properties, to owing private jets and yatch, to owing over $500billion---one time allegation against Ibru, to owing shopping complexes, to owing the buildings the branches were located in were some of the public and quasi-official charges against these people. Next, you will ask for evidence to show that CBN raised the charges being forwarded and prosecuted by EFCC? Sorry, I don't have the privilage of a cozy CBN office with fulltime research staff like you do, all are in the public domain. |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by kosovo(m): 9:06pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
This is the best news i have heard in 2 weeks. . .  |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by Nobody: 9:13pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
biina: biina:
|
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by naijaking1: 9:18pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
^^^^ Thank you tpia. |
| Re: Judge Tells Sanusi To Stop Parading Suspects In The Media by SapeleGuy: 9:19pm On Mar 24, 2010 |
With all this broadcasting by Sanusi can the accused individuals really get a fair trial? |
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