Some Lagos-based lawyers have condemned parading of arrested suspects by the police, saying it is unconstitutional and damaging to the person involved.
They said that often those paraded were innocent and in the event of their being pronounced innocent by the courts of competent jurisdiction, the police never re-parades them.
Mr Olawale Apanisile, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that parading suspects undergoing investigation was illegal and could not be justified.
Apanisile said that parading suspects before the public and media as criminals was damaging to the reputation and personality of the individual.
He said that it was a violation of Section 34 (1) and 36 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
According to Apanisile, Section 34 states that every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person and (1) (a) no person shall be subject to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment.
“In a bid to show to the public that the police are working and are up to the task of safeguarding the country, they display suspects like medals and trophies to the media,’’ he said.
The lawyer said that during arrest, investigation and arraignment, the accused should be treated with respect as they were presumed innocent until proven guilty.
“The police and other law enforcement agents should treat an accused the same way they will treat any other law abiding citizens.
“Most Nigerians do not know their fundamental human rights, but if the police had been slammed with law suits by paraded suspects, then such impunity will not be the order of day.
“Some who know their rights are too scared to press charges,’’ he said.
He urged human rights activists to educate and come to the aid of the populace to put an end to the practice of media trial by the police.
“This practice must stop no matter how grievous the crime an accused committed.
“We should leave it to the courts to administer justice so that after the accused has been acquitted or convicted he can go back to living his life in peace,’’ he said.
Apanisile, however, said that the only time the law allowed for an accused to be paraded was during identification parade.
According to him, in identification parade, an accused will be placed with people who have similar physical appearance with him and paraded before witnesses to know if they will recognise the suspect.
Apanisile, however, said that the only time the law allowed for an accused to be paraded was during identification parade.
According to him, in identification parade, an accused will be placed with people who have similar physical appearance with him and paraded before witnesses to know if they will recognise the suspect.
“The parading of suspects before newsmen is not obtainable in Britain but in America, they do perpetrators walk commonly known as `perp walk’.
“In Britain, accused are brought to court in vehicle with tinted glasses which makes it impossible for the public to see them,’’ he said.
According to Wikipedia, perp walk is a common custom of American law enforcement, the practice of taking an arrested suspect through a public place at some point after arrest, creating an opportunity for the media to take photographs and video of the event.
Mr Chris Okani, urged the Nigerian police to stop the parade of suspected armed robbers and other alleged criminals before the public prior to arraignment.
Okani said that parading suspects by the police prior to charging them to court for trial and being found guilty was an aberration.
He also noted that a suspect was presumed innocent until proven otherwise by a court of law after full trial.
He said the police was only permitted to parade suspects if there was need for identification of the suspect by a witness who claims to have seen the suspect commit the alleged offence.
Mr Alozie Nwoke said: “The police are usually under pressure to clean up their image before the public and the Federal Government has given rise to this kind of practice.
“Owing to the pressure, suspects are often paraded so as to show that the police are working.
“The police then get some kind of approval that they are doing well but most times they parade innocent persons.
“Our law provides that every suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction’’.
The legal practitioners decried the act, saying that should the suspects be acquitted, the police would not re-parade them as being innocent.
The Nation
I agree with him!
ReplyDeleteDear Jesus I need a miracle.
Fact! Parading of suspects is the part our Nigerian police loves most in their job... Come and see em Feeling Like Terminator.
ReplyDeleteHaaahaaahaaahaaaHaaahaaahaaahaaa! Feeling like a Treminator!
DeleteI skwsyde thought as much
ReplyDeleteStella they ré right,cos they ré still innocent, thats how thé french do it here, protect their right, until prove thé guilty, here they dont show their faces cos they ré still innocent till thé court said they ré at fault ! This is Nice and it Will respect their rights as human being,
ReplyDeleteGood to know
ReplyDeleteIt's true sha
ReplyDeleteSDK, dem de parade suspects to the media for Germany? we know some of these " paraded suspects" are innocent , while some....well; they really have to stop it. I'm with the lawyers on this.
ReplyDeleteIt is true. There are a lot of unconstitutional and down right illegal things the Nigerian Police force do that people are now so used to, that they now consider to be the norm but it's simply an infringement on basic civil human rights . Its quite sad.
ReplyDeletemrs stella i stand with the lawyers.because every accused person is presumed innocent until the contrary is proved..sometimes some of these suspects are innocent and after parading them in public it can destroy and tarnish their image after been found not to be guilty by a competent court.the won't be able to even show their face in public again.
ReplyDeleteYes Stella the lawyer us right. It's called a suspect right and not convicted until then he or she remains innocent therefore the person's personality and privacy should be respected
ReplyDeleteIn Germany there you live you don't see the court or police showcase a suspect or someone under U-Haft (Untersuchungshaft)
It's a pity that in that zoo no one can sue the police after receiving such public embarrassment from them until then
The incompetent criminal dumbass Nigerian police should get to work.
I remain anonymous no signature today hahahah
Yes Stella the lawyer us right. It's called a suspect right and not convicted until then he or she remains innocent therefore the person's personality and privacy should be respected
ReplyDeleteIn Germany there you live you don't see the court or police showcase a suspect or someone under U-Haft (Untersuchungshaft)
It's a pity that in that zoo no one can sue the police after receiving such public embarrassment from them until then
The incompetent criminal dumbass Nigerian police should get to work.
I remain anonymous no signature today hahahah
Stella, why d what?!? The lawyer is right naa. What he said is very true. In most cases the innocent ones are paraded as criminals, even without any form of investigation! Nigeria police first parade publicly before they start their investigations, which is very wrong. This cant be done in a sane country naa.
ReplyDeleteBest post I've read in a long time. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. But no, these idiots we call our police will be parading people not proved guilty yet as guilty and then the innocent ones now suffer unjustly.
ReplyDeleteWhen can u write without cursing? No day u make a comment without curse word. U re really a sick girl. I feel sorry for any man in ur life.
DeleteWhy not feel sorry for ur pathetic husband or wife who's so unlucky to be saddled with u.
DeleteI agree with them. They are still suspects. If i ve not been wrongly accused u wont understand how painful it is. Thats how someone accused my lil bro of stealing his phone and called army people for him. They tortured him and at d end, it was all lies. May God purnished that boy for that. My mum almost went into coma when she heard this. What is phone that we cant afford for my brother. That act got me depressed for sometimes and i was thought of how innocent perish cos of the sin they did not commit.
ReplyDeleteStella,which one is WHAT? The write up is 100% true but because our country is fucked,anything goes. Even the way this police label crimes on innocent people is alarming. I went to bail a client one day @ the station n they wrote attempted to commit felony,meanwhile the fact of the case was that the compliant and the accused were to meet with their lawyers to sign an M.O.U (memorandum of understanding) but on the deal day,the compliant came with police and arrested the accused persons that they want to defraud him. I was so weak with the whole thing because even a mumu knows that there was no case in the matter but they delayed us n finally released the accused persons. Till date,the complaint did not go back to the station but this men were humiliated n slept over night in station, we are preparing to go back with case of fundamental human right against the compliant n he must pay for his action.
ReplyDelete