Hama Amadou, an opposition leader in the Sahel state of Niger, was sentenced to a year’s jail Monday on a charge of baby smuggling after a one-day trial that his attorneys denounced as a fix.
Amadou — who competed against President Mahamadou Issoufou in March elections in 2016 — had left for France and was tried in absentia.
He was one of a group of people accused of smuggling babies from Nigeria via Benin to wealthy couples in Niger.
Shortly before the verdict, defence lawyers walked out of court, saying legal procedures had not been upheld and that the goal was to prevent Amadou from running again for office.
“Hama Amadou lives in France and so all procedural documents must be sent to him France, and proceedings should be delayed,” said Ali Kadri, a lawyer from the defence team.
However the judge refused to grant the defence’s request for a delay, Kadri added.
Souley Oumarou, another lawyer for Amadou, said: “They want to judge Hama and condemn him… the goal is to reach a decision that will make him unable to run in the next election” in 2021.
Amadou had been charged for “complicity” in the alleged trafficking, but the charge was changed on the judge’s orders to that of “illicitly dealing in children.”
The defendants refused to answer questions.
His lawyers indicated they would appeal.
“There are means of recourse and we will use them,” said attorney Boubacar Mossi.
A former premier and parliamentary speaker, Amadou has been nicknamed “the Phoenix” for his political comebacks.
He was arrested on November 14, 2015 on his return from exile, and was forced to campaign for the presidency from behind bars.
He was released on medical grounds on March 16, 2016, four days before the second round of the voting, and flew to France.
Issoufou went on to win with 92 percent of the run-off ballot. With the opposition boycotting the election, Amadou only got seven percent of the vote.
The post Niger sentences opposition figure to jail in baby trafficking trial appeared first on Vanguard News.
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