{"id":11235,"date":"2016-08-30T18:18:22","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T18:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=11235"},"modified":"2016-08-30T18:18:22","modified_gmt":"2016-08-30T18:18:22","slug":"lawyers-say-parading-of-suspects-unconstitutional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=11235","title":{"rendered":"Lawyers say parading of suspects unconstitutional"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><code><script src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\" async=\"\"><\/script><br \/>\n <!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n <ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\/\/ <![CDATA[\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p><code><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=10208&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/code><\/p>\n<p>Some Lagos-based lawyers have condemned parading of arrested suspects<br \/>\nby the police, saying it is unconstitutional and damaging to the person<br \/>\ninvolved.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Justice.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11236\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-11236\" src=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Justice-300x161.jpg\" alt=\"Justice\" width=\"300\" height=\"161\" srcset=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Justice-300x161.jpg 300w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Justice.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>They said that often those paraded were innocent and in the event of their<br \/>\nbeing pronounced innocent by the courts of competent jurisdiction, the police<br \/>\nnever re-parade them.<br \/>\nMr Olawale Apanisile, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that parading<br \/>\nsuspects undergoing investigation was illegal and could not be justified.<br \/>\nApanisile said that parading suspects before the public and media as<br \/>\ncriminals was damaging to the reputation and personality of the individual.<br \/>\nHe said that it was a violation of Section 34 (1) and 36 (1) of the<br \/>\nConstitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.<br \/>\nAccording to Apanisile, Section 34 states that every individual is entitled to<br \/>\nrespect for the dignity of his person and (1) (a) no person shall be subject to<br \/>\ntorture or to inhuman or degrading treatment.<br \/>\n&#8220;In a bid to show to the public that the police are working and are up to the<br \/>\ntask of safeguarding the country, they display suspects like medals and<br \/>\ntrophies to the media,\u2019\u2019 he said.<br \/>\nThe lawyer said that during arrest, investigation and arraignment, the<br \/>\naccused should be treated with respect as they were presumed innocent until<br \/>\nproven guilty.<\/p>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\" async=\"\"><\/script><br \/>\n <!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n <ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\/\/ <![CDATA[\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The police and other law enforcement agents should treat an accused the<br \/>\nsame way they will treat any other law abiding citizens.<br \/>\n&#8220;Most Nigerians do not know their fundamental human rights, but if the<br \/>\npolice had been slammed with law suits by paraded suspects, then such<br \/>\nimpunity will not be the order of day.<br \/>\n&#8220;Some who know their rights are too scared to press charges,\u2019\u2019 he said.<br \/>\nHe urged human rights activists to educate and come to the aid of the<br \/>\npopulace to put an end to the practice of media trial by the police.<br \/>\n&#8220;This practice must stop no matter how grievous the crime an accused<br \/>\ncommitted.<br \/>\n&#8220;We should leave it to the courts to administer justice so that after the<br \/>\naccused has been acquitted or convicted he can go back to living his life in<br \/>\npeace,\u2019\u2019 he said.<br \/>\nApanisile, however, said that the only time the law allowed for an accused to<br \/>\nbe paraded was during identification parade.<br \/>\nAccording to him, in identification parade, an accused will be placed with<br \/>\npeople who have similar physical appearance with him and paraded before<br \/>\nwitnesses to know if they will recognise the suspect.<br \/>\n&#8220;The parading of suspects before newsmen is not obtainable in Britain but in<br \/>\nAmerica, they do perpetrators walk commonly known as `perp walk\u2019.<br \/>\n&#8220;In Britain, accused are brought to court in vehicle with tinted glasses which<br \/>\nmakes it impossible for the public to see them,\u2019\u2019 he said.<br \/>\nAccording to Wikipedia, perp walk is a common custom of American law<br \/>\nenforcement, the practice of taking an arrested suspect through a public<br \/>\nplace at some point after arrest, creating an opportunity for the media to take<br \/>\nphotographs and video of the event.<br \/>\nMr Chris Okani, urged the Nigerian police to stop the parade of suspected<br \/>\narmed robbers and other alleged criminals before the public prior to<br \/>\narraignment.<br \/>\nOkani said that parading suspects by the police prior to charging them to<br \/>\ncourt for trial and being found guilty was an aberration.<br \/>\nHe also noted that a suspect was presumed innocent until proven otherwise<br \/>\nby a court of law after full trial.<br \/>\nHe said the police was only permitted to parade suspects if there was need<br \/>\nfor identification of the suspect by a witness who claims to have seen the<br \/>\nsuspect commit the alleged offence.<br \/>\nMr Alozie Nwoke said: &#8220;The police are usually under pressure to clean up<br \/>\ntheir image before the public and the Federal Government has given rise to<br \/>\nthis kind of practice.<br \/>\n&#8220;Owing to the pressure, suspects are often paraded so as to show that the<br \/>\npolice are working.<br \/>\n&#8220;The police then get some kind of approval that they are doing well but most<br \/>\ntimes they parade innocent persons.<br \/>\n&#8220;Our law provides that every suspect is presumed innocent until proven<br \/>\nguilty by a court of competent jurisdiction\u2019\u2019.<br \/>\nThe legal practitioners decried the act, saying that should the suspects be<br \/>\nacquitted, the police would not re-parade them as being innocent.<\/p>\n<p><code><script src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\" async=\"\"><\/script><br \/>\n <!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n <ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\/\/ <![CDATA[\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=10208&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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-parade them. Mr Olawale Apanisile, told the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":11236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[2872],"class_list":["post-11235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-olawale-apanisile"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Justice.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-2Vd","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11235"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11237,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11235\/revisions\/11237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}