Mrs. Patience Jonathan
The Internal Criminal Court on Monday said Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is liable to prosecution.
The global criminal court added that it had begun conducting preliminary examinations relating to the situations in Nigeria.
In an email written to our
correspondent, the Office of the prosecutor stated that it received the
petition written by the major opposition party in Nigeria, the All
Progressives Congress, asking the ICC to prosecute President Goodluck
Jonathan’s wife for making inciting comments that might lead to
violence.
The email read, “Under Article 15 of the
Rome Statue, the Prosecutor of the ICC may receive information on
crimes within the jurisdiction on the Court (also called
‘Communication’).
“With regards to your enquiry, the
Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court can confirm
receipt of the communication referred to since the sender (APC) has
made this fact public in the media.”
It added that the court would take all
the necessary steps, which will likely include interrogating the
President’s wife and others mentioned in the petition of the APC.
“The office will give consideration to
this communication, as appropriate, in accordance with the provisions of
the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, as it does with
all such communications,” the email sent to our correspondent concluded.
Also, the Prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, on Monday issued a press
statement made available to our correspondent.
In it, she reiterated the stance of the
ICC to prosecute anyone who promotes or instigates violence before,
during or after the general elections.
The ICC prosecutor noted that it had
already started to conduct independent and impartial investigations and
prosecution of the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war
crimes in Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur, Sudan, Libya,
Ivory Coast and Mali.
“The Office is also conducting
preliminary examinations relating to the situations in Afghanistan,
Colombia, Georgia, Guinea, Honduras, Iraq, Nigeria, Ukraine and
Palestine,” the ICC said.
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