2023-12-15 19:15:09
In Abuja, Nigeria, the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS ruled in favor this Friday, December 15th, of the lawyers of Mohamed Bazoum, detained with his wife and son since the coup d’état that deposed him on 26 July 2023, ordering his immediate and unconditional release, as well as his return to power.
Published on: 15/12/2023 – 18:15
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The judge estimated that several of their rights were violated: the right to free movement, as they had been detained at the presidential residence for more than 4 months, as well as the right not to be arbitrarily arrested or detained.
The West African court believes that Mohamed Bazoum’s political rights were also violated and calls for the restoration of constitutional order in Niger, as well as the return of state power to the deposed president.
As for the Niger State defense lawyers, they asked the same court to declare themselves without jurisdiction in this case and declare this request unacceptable – requests however rejected.
As even though the judges have ruled on the law, the decisions of the ECOWAS Court of Justice continue to have no effect, Mohamed Bazoum’s lawyers believe that it is up to the organization’s member states to ensure that such a legal decision is applied.
Although ECOWAS continues to call for the release of the deposed Nigerien president, it had already taken note of the regime change during a summit held on Sunday, recognizing for the first time that Mohamed Bazoum “had actually been overthrown by a military coup“.
The ECOWAS Court of Justice set a period of one month (from the date of notification) for the new Nigerian authorities to report on the implementation of the decision taken by the court.
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