Chief James Onanefe Ibori has instructed his lawyers to take his case against the United Kingdom to the Court of Appeal at the European Court of Human Rights.
The reason is the judgement the UK Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, passed on October 17, which the former Delta State governor described as “unjustifiably” denying him justice.
In a press statement signed by his Media Assistant, Tony Eluemunor, Ibori said: “At 11am today, judgment of the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, was handed down. Once again the British Courts have unjustifiably denied me justice. The injustice contrived against me continued at the Court of Appeal. By this denial, I have been prevented from challenging my conviction even though the Crown Prosecution accepts the fact that there was a proven case of police corruption.”
The Court of Appeal, Ibori stated, declined his application for leave to appeal his conviction based on Crown Prosecution (CPS) and police disclosure failures compounded by police corruption unearthed way before he even arrived in the UK.
“The allegation of police corruption, at least of Mr. John Macdonald, the Investigating Police Officer in my case, started on or about 10th of September 2007 while I was still in Nigeria. This issue of police corruption was raised by a different agency of the UK government working on an entirely different case at the time,” stated.
Ibori explained that this material fact should have been disclosed to his legal team when he arrived in the UK “but it was not disclosed because the Crown Prosecution Service and the London Metropolitan Police knew the devastating and fatal impact that would have had on the case against me”. He said the UK authorities therefore chose to deliberately cover it up even though his legal team asked that all-important question in open court.
“This continued cover-up, which is inimical to justice delivery, has been displayed again today by the Court of Appeal when it denied me the opportunity to appeal my conviction at the Appeal Court and possibly the Supreme Court of England and Wales. This is international conspiracy carried too far to the detriment of the integrity of the British Judicial System.
“Numerous people have asked me to discontinue the appeal adding: ‘But what do they care. It’s a matter that has to do with a bunch of “corrupt” Nigerians. They can throw judicial decency to the dogs’.
“I say to the members of the public who have shown personal concern for my predicament that I will strive with every breath of energy in me to pursue the cause of justice not only for my sake but because it is the right thing to do to make the world a better place and to defend the rights of the down-trodden.
“So, I have put my legal team on notice to explore every legal avenue to expose this massive cover-up – including applying to the European Court of Human Rights to ensure that this assault on my fundamental rights does not stand.
“As I said in an earlier statement, “The British judiciary is supposed to rest on a strong foundation of openness, transparency and the rule of law. My legal team have done their best to draw attention to the issue of disclosure and the protocol associated with materials obtained through interception. It is a short and simple case that does not require the length of time it has taken to adjudicate. It’s either my application for permission to appeal is granted, based on the fatal nature of the disclosure-failure, or a brutal assault on the integrity of British Justice would be committed. The Crown Prosecution Service, the Metropolitan Police and the Department for Professional Standards deliberately spat on the law when they wilfully disregarded the stipulations of the law governing the use of disclosures. This flaw is unpardonable in the British legal system even in serious cases like terrorism much less fraud and money laundering of which prison terms have been served and expired”. Well, today, a brutal assault was committed against the delivery of justice in the UK.
“Unfortunately, I am the victim of this assault on the delivery of justice and this ruling further exposes the failing of the British legal system. Evidence exists which confirms the police corruption in my case, the Court is of aware of it, the prosecution is aware of it, and even though it was withheld from my legal team, they have now become aware of it.
“The Court of Appeal did not permit my legal team to even refer to this evidence let alone advance it as part of our case. Even now, I am not permitted to disclose the nature of this evidence for fear of committing an offence. In these circumstances, my legal team argued that there were only two options available. One; the prosecution should concede the appeal, or the Court should halt proceedings as an abuse of process because a fair hearing was no longer possible.
“Disappointingly, both the prosecution and the court took the view that saving face was more important than dispensing justice. Yet, I am fully resolved to challenge the ruling of the Court of Appeal at the European Court of Human Rights. Let the days be gone when British legal luminaries come to give seminars in Africa boasting about having the best legal system in the world,” Ibori stated.
He thanked his legal team for a great job, saying that they have fought gallantly to save the British justice delivery from those undermining it and that he has no doubt that justice will come his way eventually, no matter how long it takes.