Nigeria's Shiite minority leader Ibrahim Zakzaky and his wife, accused of murder and imprisoned since 2015, were acquitted on Wednesday (July 28) by the court in Kaduna, in the north of the country, and were released, he said. - we learned from his lawyer.
"The Court released and acquitted Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky and his wife of all charges against them. They were released today," one of his lawyers, Sadau Garba, told AFP.
"We will certainly seek damages from the Kaduna state government for all the hardships and suffering suffered by our client," he added.
The Shiite leader and his wife "must now return home, rest and meet their urgent medical needs," he continued.
Contacted by AFP, the attorney general of the Kaduna court was not reachable early Wednesday evening.
Accused of the murder of a soldier in 2015
Ibrahim Zakzaky, founder of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (Min), had been detained with his wife Zeenah Ibrahim since December 2015, after violence erupted during a religious procession.
The army had fired, killing more than 350 people, most of them unarmed Shiites, according to human rights organizations.
Ibrahim Zakzaky and his wife were notably accused of the murder of a soldier during these demonstrations.
At the end of 2016, a federal court ruled the detention of the religious leader illegal and ordered his release.
But this decision had never been carried out.
The Min, which appeared as a student movement in 1978 before turning into a revolutionary group, is still close to Tehran today and arouses great hostility in Nigeria, where the Sunni Muslim elite does not hide its affinities with Saudi Arabia. .
The group's demonstrations are regularly put down in the blood.
With AFP
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