Justice Gideon Kurada of Kaduna High Court on Wednesday, discharged and acquitted leader of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and wife Zeenat.
The two were acquitted in a ruling that took eight hours on no-case submission application filed by the defendants, their Counsel, Femi Falana SAN.
Shortly after Justice Kurada delivered his judgement, Falana, represented by Marshal Abubakar spoke to newsmen.
“The trial of Sheik El-Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat has come to end as the court found them not guilty of the alleged crime, filed against them by the Kaduna state government.
Reasons for acquittal
“The court found that the charges were filed in 2018 pursuant to the Penal law that was enacted by the state government in 2017 and over an alleged offence that was committed in 2015.
“The court presided by Justice Gideon Kurada, ruled that the charge was not supposed to be filed in the first place, because government cannot arraign someone for a crime that was not an offence at the time.
“The court ruled that the charge was incompetent as the court agreed that El-Zakzaky and his wife had committed no offence.
“The court also holds that the event of December 12 2015 and December 15, was not an offence and the court was emphatic that none of the events in December 12, 2015 can be attributed to the defendants for an offence.
“The court, thereby, discharged and acquitted the defendants, as there should have been no charge in the first place.
“No party asked for cost of fine,” Abubakar told newsmen.
The lead prosecution team, Mr Dari Bagero however declined comment on the ruling by immediately driving out of the court premises.
Recall Kaduna state government had charged El-Zakzaky and Zeenat with eight-count charges bordering on alleged culpable homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of public peace, among other charges.
