No Legal Basis – UN Dismisses Ousted Mohamed Bazoum Treason Case

The United Nations (UN) says there was no legal basis for Niger’s military junta to prosecute deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum for high treason.

The UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, who started this also added that the very notion of freedom in Niger was at stake.

The junta had on August 13, vowed that it will prosecute ousted Bazoum for high treason over his exchanges with foreign heads of state and international organisations.

Junta spokesperson Colonel Amadou Abdramane said the military authorities had “gathered the necessary evidence to prosecute the ousted president…for high treason and undermining the internal and external security of Niger.”

Reuters quoted the UN human rights chief on Friday as saying, “This decision is not only politically motivated against a democratically elected President but has no legal basis as the normal functioning of democratic institutions has been cast aside.

“The very notion of freedoms in Niger is at stake.

 “Generals cannot take it upon themselves to defy – at a whim – the will of the people. Rule-by-gun has no place in today’s world.”

The coup leaders have imprisoned Mohamed Bazoum and dissolved the elected government of Niger, a major uranium producer, and a Western ally in the fight against an Islamist insurgency.

In other news, Kanyi Daily reported that Self-imposed Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government-in-Exile and Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, has reacted to the suicide attempt by  Nigerian socialite, Farida Sobowale on the third Mainland Bridge, Lagos.