Nigeria: Shiite leader Zakzaky indicted again for "terrorism and treason"
Supporters of Shiite minority leader Ibrahim Zakzaky in July 2019. Kola SULAIMON AFP / File
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In Nigeria, another twist in the legal battle between the leader of the Shiite minority Ibrahim Zakzaky and the Nigerian authorities.
Barely a few days after his acquittal for murder, the cleric is now indicted for "terrorism and treason".
This was announced Sunday, August 1, a lawyer for the prosecution.
Zakzaky's newfound freedom after nearly six years of detention was therefore only of very short duration.
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Very short-lived, but not surprising, because two days before
his release last Wednesday
, the prosecutor's office in Kano, in northern Nigeria, had indicted him. This religious leader, who dreams of transporting the Islamic Revolution from Iran to Nigeria, is accused of terrorism and treason. He now risks life imprisonment, or even the death penalty. Heavy charges, and almost unheard of against someone who had just been acquitted.
The facts for which he is accused date back to his activities before 2015, the year he was imprisoned following clashes between his supporters and the police.
The repression had left some 350 dead.
The announcement of the new prosecutions today amazes some of his supporters, worried by his state of health after almost six years of detention.
If the acquittal allowed him to leave the country, in particular for medical treatment in Iran, where he lived in the 1990s, these new charges deprive him of the freedom of movement even if he has still not been stopped.
For now, the founder of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, refuses to receive the new documents from the prosecution.
According to his relatives, he is currently receiving medical treatment in Abuja.
The Federal High Court, currently on vacation, will try again to have these prosecution documents accepted by Ibrahim Zakzaky, in September
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