From: Islamic Human Rights Commission
13 August 2020

Nigeria Digest #127 (Volume 3 issue 59) – Take Action and write to your local MP and urge him/her to raise this issue in Parliament.

IHRC urged Buhari to free leader of Islamic Movement. Followers of Sheikh Zakzaky distributed food to the less privileged. Zakzaky lawyers filed case dismissal application as #FreeZakzaky protests continued in Nigeria. 

You can find all the latest actions and information, as well as 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 asking campaigners to write to their local MP and urge them to raise the issue of illegal detention of Sheikh Zakzaky in Parliament. During last two weeks, Zakzaky lawyers filed case dismissal application, IHRC written an open letter to President Buhari and urged him to end Zakzaky’s near five-years ordeal. Followers of Sheikh Zakzaky distributed food to the needy and #FreeZakzaky protests continued in Nigeria.

Please also help us to support those injured by police brutality, and the families of those killed by the security services, by donating to the IHRC Trust Nigeria Fund here.

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

Action Alert 

IHRC are calling upon campaigners to write to their local MP urging him/her to raise the issue of the illegal detention of Sheikh Zakzaky in Parliament. A model letter is provided below. If you receive a response please forward it to IHRC at wajahat@ihrc.org

Send email / Letter to your local MP:

Please click on the country name to find the contact details of your respective members of Parliament;
Afghanistan, Canada,India, Indonesia, Iran,Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan,Turkey, UK,

Note: People should be able to find emails of their MPs but please contact us if you have trouble in finding it.

Template Letter

Your name:
Your address:
Date:

Name of your MP
Address

Dear MP (Name),

Intervene to end near five-year’s illegal detention of the leader of Islamic Movement and his wifeI am shocked to find that the Nigerian president’s amnesty on 9 April to 2500 prisoners did not include Sheikh El-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.

Despite the fact that over 1000 innocent supporters of the Islamic Movement were butchered in the horrendous Zaria massacre of December 2015, not a single official has been charged or brought to trial over the killings.

Yet we are faced with the spectacle of a politically driven criminal justice system persisting in the prosecution of the leader of Islamic movement, Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife, in defiance of a court order demanding their release, in 2016.

I am sure you agree that this is unacceptable state of affairs, and that the Government must intervene to ensure that these injustices are rectified immediately.

I urge your office to take this issue to Parliament and take all necessary actions against the government of Nigeria until such a time as their political process returns to some form of democratic practice and due process.

Further, I demand immediate sanctions be placed against Nigeria for its continued violations of basic human rights norms in this and other cases.

I look forward to hearing from you regarding the action your office will take in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

[Your signature if scanning / faxing]

Your name

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

Articles

Find all the articles selected this week on our website.  Here are a selected few.

Zakzaky lawyers file case dismissal application
07 August 2020 – IHRC Press Release

Lawyers for the imprisoned leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim el-Zakzaky and his wife Mallima Zeenah, have filed an application seeking to end their near five-year ordeal.

The application to quash the charges was made today in Kaduna High Court on the basis that the charges against the pair are frivolous and an abuse of court process. The court will decide the application when it returns from its summer break at the end of September.

Police Attack Free Zakzaky Protest in Abuja on 7 Aug
07 August 2020
Security Forces attacked peaceful protesters on Friday the 7th of August 2020 with teargas . Thousands staged a protest calling for the freedom of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife. The protest was terminated at street leading to Garki Hospital. The attack came the protesters were listening to closing speech.

Sheikh Zakzaky Distributes Food items to the less privileged
04 August 2020
The leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, who is in detention for nearly five years, has distributed foodstuff to the less privileged to celebrate the Eid-el-Kabir. 

The food items worth millions of Naira was distributed by the eldest son of Sheikh Zakzaky on his behalf and they include bags of rice, indomie and spaghetti. See pictures below or Click here for further details and the pictures.

Massive Protest in Kaduna Calling for the Freedom of Sheikh Zakzaky
29 July 2020
Free Zakzaky protest staged in Kaduna on Tuesday the 28th of July 2020. The protesters were calling for the freedom of Sheikh Zakzaky who spent nearly five years in detention. Click here for details and to view pictures

IHRC Urges Buhari to Free Zakzakys On Eve of Trial
28 July 2020 – IHRC Press Release
IHRC has again written to the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to free the leader of the country’s Islamic Movement, Sheikh Ibrahim el-Zakzaky and his wife Mallima Zeenah and end their near five-year ordeal.

The couple remain in custody in Kaduna state prison in defiance of a court ruling ordering their release. Despite previous correspondence with Buhari and other Nigerian and international officials there seems to be no end in sight to their continuing confinement.

The letter comes as the Zakzakys prepare to be hauled to court on Thursday 30 July to stand trial for their alleged involvement in violence that resulted in the death of a member of the security forces during a massacre by armed forces of supporters of the Islamic Movement in Zaria in December 2015. Click here for further details.
The full transcript of the letter is available to read here: https://www.ihrc.org.uk/news/articles/26432-ihrc-letter-to-buhari-urges-him-to-end-zakzakys-ordeal/

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 Arzu Merali’s blog on Sheikh Zakzaky “Zakzaky is not Thomas Becket; Buhari be warned” published on 22 February 2019.

Click hereto 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.