3rd May, 2018
Photo: Punch
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, on Thursday condemned police’s arraignment of Senator Dino Melaye in a stretcher, describing the act as unacceptable and humiliating.
Falana, in a statement said the arraignment of Melaye in a stretcher in Abuja on Wednesday and Thursday was unacceptable in a civilised society.
“It is particularly degrading and humiliating as it violates the fundamental right to the dignity of his person guaranteed by Section 34 of the Constitution and Section 7 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
“Even though the Senator has my sympathy, it is indistinguishable that he has only been given a little dose of the humiliating treatment that is daily meted out to the flotsam and jetsam of our unjust society by the Nigeria Police Force and other law enforcement agencies in Nigeria,” he said.
He said the senator’s case should not be treated in isolation by the Senate and the bourgeois media.
“While the solidarity of the federal legislators with Senator Melaye is understandable the tragic turn of events calls for sober reflection. Apart from joining the call for the immediate release of Sheik Ibraheem Elzakzaky and Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd) in line with the valid and subsisting orders of competent courts, the National Assembly is called upon to take advantage of Senator Melaye’s case to adopt and domesticate the United Nations Minimum Standard for the Treatment of Criminal Suspects in Nigeria without any delay,” he said.