From: Islamic Human Rights Commission
17 October 2020

Nigeria Digest #132 (Volume 4 issue 3) – Take Action  and write to the Commonwealth

Massive protesters in annual Arbaeen processions around the world demanded the immediate release of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife. End of September’s adjournment of Zakzaky’s hearing will drag the case into mid-November.

You can find all the latest actions and information, as well as the background to the campaign and information, videos and audio and details on the Sheikh on the Free Zakzaky campaign page.

Introduction
Action Alert
Articles
Videos
Archive

Introduction
We are urging campaigners to write to the Commonwealth. During this week protesters in annual Arbaeen processions in various Nigeria cities, London and Karachi marched with Zakzaky placards and banners to show solidarity and to demand the immediate release of the illegally detained leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria. End of September’s adjournment of hearing to dismiss the charges against Sheikh Zakzaky has dragged the case into mid-November.

Please help to support the urgent medical costs of those injured, and the families of those affected by the ongoing violence, by donating to the IHRC Trust Nigeria Fund here. 

Above all, please remember all the oppressed in your prayers
#FreeZakzaky!

Action Alert 

Click here to send an email to the Commonwealth and demand its intervention in this case. A model email and contact details of the Commonwealth are provided below. Please forward any responses you receive to IHRC at wajahat@ihrc.org
Model email
If you are emailing, please use the following in the subject line:
Denial of Amnesty for Sheikh Zakzaky Unacceptable
Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC
Commonwealth Secretariat
Marlborough House
Pall Mall
London
SW1Y 5HX

Re: Denial of Amnesty for Sheikh Zakzaky Unacceptable
Dear Baroness Scotland QC,
I am shocked to find out that the Nigerian President’s amnesty on 9 April to 2500 prisoners did not include Sheikh Zakzaky and Muallima Zeenah, and indeed other political prisoners. The Sheikh and his wife are both aged over 60 and are suffering from severe health conditions. Last week, an academic forum of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria raised concerns about the further deteriorating health condition of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife, based on the new information.

Sheikh Zakzaky and Muallima Zeenah continue to be held in illegal detention despite a 2016 Federal High Court ruling that their detention is unlawful and unconstitutional. I urge your government to release Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, his wife Muallima Zeenah and other political prisoners immediately. Their continued illegal detention in Kaduna State prison poses a high risk to their health, especially in the current COVID19 outbreak.

This is a policy that needs to be implemented quickly in Nigeria not just for the Sheikh and his wife, who both have underlying health conditions, but for all political prisoners wherever possible for the sake of justice and also the sake of Nigerian society as a whole.
[Your name]

Commonwealth’s Contact Details:
Email: info@commonwealth.int
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7747 6500
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7930 0827

Note: Due to the COVID19 outbreak, we do not advise sending letters by post

Articles:

Massive Free Zakzaky Protest in Abuja on 15th of Cot 2020
15 October 2020
Massive free Zakzaky protest in Abuja on Thursday the 15th of October 2020. The Protesters were calling for the freedom of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife from Illegal detention for nearly five years. 

Free Zakzaky Massive Protest in Garki Ahuja Nigeria
13 October 2020
Free Zakzaky protest staged in Abuja on Tuesday the 13th of October 2020 calling for the immediate release of Sheikh Zakzaky from detention. The Leader has been detained for nearly five years in a serious health condition.

Global Arbaeen 2020 protesters showed solidarity with Sheikh Zakzaky
11 October 2020
London UK: In a massive Arbaeen 2020 protest in Marble Arch London, protesters marched through Park Lane in central London showing solidarity with the oppressed Leader of Islamic movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky. Click here to watch a short video clip.
Karachi Pakistan: On 07 October 2020 mourners in Arbaeen 2020 processions in Karachi, Pakistan showed solidarity with illegally detained leader of Islamic Movement of Nigeria. See below pictures from London and Karachi.

IHRC Press Release: Zakzaky case adjournment makes a mockery of justice
29 September 2020

The decision by the Kaduna High Court today to adjourn yet again a hearing to dismiss the charges against the imprisoned leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim el-Zakzaky and his wife Mallima Zeenah, is an abuse of the judicial process which makes a mockery of Nigeria’s judicial system.

The application to quash the charges was made in August in Kaduna High Court only for the court to adjourn the application until it returned from its summer break at the end of September. Today’s adjournment will drag the hearing into mid November.

Videos

Find more videos from recent weeks as well as the archives on the Free Zakzaky audio and video page.
Find a selection below.

Archive:

Click here to read the Ihrc report Human Rights Abuses in Nigeria: September 1996 – October 1997, Addendum

Click here to read the IHRC Press Release published on 02 July 1998 “Nigerian junta should release all political prisoners regardless of their faith”

Follow the IHRC #FreeZakzaky campaign for all the latest action alerts, press releases, reports, background, videos and more.

The Nigeria Digest is a weekly summary of the campaign to free all who are illegally detained focusing on the Islamic Movement of Nigeria. The opinions expressed in the digest do not necessarily reflect the views of IHRC.