31 Northern lawyers set to defend Abba Kyari

A group of Northern Nigerian lawyers have volunteered to render free legal services to the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari.

The group in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja and signed by its coordinator, Barrister Sunusi Salisu, said the lawyers were drawn from across all the 19 northern states and all religions and tribes to render free legal services for the preservation of Kyari’s fundamental rights that may be potentially jeopardized by his alleged indictment by a court in the United States of America.

The lawyers said they would critically review the procedures adopted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to get the US Court to indict Kyari on allegations of involvement in charges filed against a suspected fraudster, Ramon Abbas Hushpuppi.

The group said: “We would raise questions involving the possibility of the occasioning of breaches to Kyari’s fundamental rights entrenched in Articles 6 and 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right which essentially state that every individual shall have the right to liberty and to the security of his person and every individual shall have the right to have his cause heard.

“This comprises: The right to an appeal to competent national organs against acts of violating his fundamental rights as recognized and guaranteed by conventions, laws, regulations and customs in force.

“The right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent court or tribunal; the right to defence including the right to be defended by a counsel of his choice and the right to be tried within a reasonable time by an impartial court or tribunal,” the lawyers stated.

The lawyers said they would weigh the procedures against the intendment of Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which specifically stated that, in the determination of his civil rights and obligations, including any question or determination by, or against any government, or authority, a person shall be entitled to fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court, or other tribunal.

(THISDAY)