Lawyers for Niger’s ousted president ask the regional court to reinstate him. On Monday, lawyers for ousted Niger president Mohamed Bazoum asked a West African provincial court to reinstate him, arguing that his arrest and removal from office were illegal.
Since troops took control on July 26, Bazoum has been detained on charges that he hasn’t done enough to stem the rising level of violence in the area. This is only one of eight military coups in West and Central Africa during the previous three years.
His attorneys brought his case before the Community Court of Justice, established to issue decisions about the ECOWAS regional bloc. However, member nations are not required to abide by its rulings, and there is no legal structure to make them binding.
Seydou Diagne, a member of Bazoum’s legal team, requested that the court in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, declare that “the brutal end of Bazoum’s government was a violation of his political rights.”
Speaking via video link from Dakar, the capital of Senegal, Diagne declared that Bazoum should be released unconditionally and given back his position as president.
Additionally, according to the attorneys, his wife and son’s human rights were infringed upon by his detention.
Bazoum, his wife, and their kid were not unjustly jailed or sequestrated, according to Aissatou Zada, a lawyer for the Niger junta, who testified in court. He stated the president was confined at home for protection, but otherwise, they were free to come and go as they pleased.
Attorneys for Bazoum said they haven’t been in contact with their client since the junta accused the former president of trying to flee with the assistance of accomplices on October 20.
The court will decide on this matter on November 30.
