Nigerian court acquitted Sheikh Zakzaki after six years

Last Wednesday, the Nigerian court has freed the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky and his wife, after six years in prison.

Nigerian government officials have released Sheikh Zakzaky after the Kaduna State High Court acquitted him and his wife of all charges. The verdict showed that the allegations of Nigerian police and political officials during this period were false, and that the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria and his wife had spent six years in prison on trumped-up charges.

During the last eight-hour trial of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife, the judge acquitted the charges against him and Zinat Ibrahim, which were eight charges, including disturbing public order and holding illegal gatherings, Nigerian news sources said.

The office of Sheikh Zakzaky and his daughter announced his acquittal and possible release the day before the release of the Nigerian Islamic Movement leader, which was carried out last Wednesday.

The reason for the arrest of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife

Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife and one of their children were arrested in December 2015 during a raid by the Nigerian army and police on his house and Hussainiyah in the town of Zaria in Nigeria’s Kaduna province, where the Arbaeen Hussaini ceremony was being held. During this attack, about 2,000 Nigerian Shias, three of whom were the children of Sheikh Zakzaky, were killed. A year ago, three other children of the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) were shot dead by police in Quds International Day 2014.

Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky was severely injured in an attack by the Nigerian army and security forces on the Baqiyatallah Hussainiyah, where he lost one of his eyes and the other was on the verge of blindness.

At the same time, many international human rights organizations condemned the killing of Nigerian Shia Muslims by police and the Abuja security apparatus. Amnesty International also reported in early May 2016 that the Nigerian army and security apparatus had killed Shia Muslims, buried them in mass graves and destroyed documents related to the crime.

Nigeria’s judiciary once ordered Sheikh Zakzaky’s release in December 2016, along with $ 150,000 in damages to his family, but the Salafi government refused the Kaduna Supreme Court ruling until the Supreme Court ruled again for the release of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife on Wednesday.

Over the past six years, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky’s supporters have repeatedly staged peaceful demonstrations demanding the immediate and unconditional release of him and his wife from illegal detention.

The Nigerian army and security forces fired several shots at the bodies of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife during their arrest, and they have carried the bullets during their six years in prison illegally, and the Nigerian government has not allowed them to receive medical treatment. The leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria suffered two strokes during his imprisonment.