Nigerian President to face people's

[dawnstar@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Re: Nigerian President to face people's trial live on Internet - 30.11.99

hey, this is interesting...look at this...

lynx@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> 
> Earth First!
> 
> News Release
> Tuesday 30 November 1999
> 
> Nigerian President to face people's trial live on the Internet
> 
> President Obasanjo of Nigeria will today face a People's Court in London to
> answer a number of charges relating to human rights abuses and environmental
> devastation in the Niger Delta.
> 
> The trial will be held outside Bow Street Magistrates Court, Covent Garden,
> at 14.15 GMT (1), and broadcast live on the Internet at
> www.oilcompanies.org/trial from this time, with video streaming from 17.00
> GMT at rad.spc.org
> 
> Direct action protesters, resistance leaders from the Niger Delta and
> London-based Nigerians will be prosecuting the President who has been asked
> by e-mail to appear before the judge and jury in London today. Mark
> Moody-Stuart of Royal / Dutch Shell, Mike Moore of the World Trade
> Organisation, and the Nigerian Acting High Commissioner in London have also
> been subpoenad to appear before the court (2) and will be held in contempt
> if they do not present themselves.
> 
> The prosecution will question Obasanjo about his introduction of the Land
> Use Decree in 1978 which "legislated for the theft of resources from the
> people of the Niger Delta in collusion with transnational oil companies." He
> will also be accused of causing the deaths of hundreds of civilians in the
> ongoing military attacks on villages in Bayelsa State (3).
> 
> A spokesperson for the prosecution said today, "The President will be given
> a fair trial but the charges are grave. With a history of abuse of power,
> and as head of a civilian government only too willing to use military force,
> he hasn't really got a leg to stand on."
> 
> Ends
> 
> Photo opportunities at the People's Trial, outside Bow Street Magistrates
> Court, 14.15 GMT
> For more information please use the Internet, or contact +44 (0) 7867 513215
> 
> NOTES FOR EDITORS:
> 
> 1. Four protesters who blocked London's Northumberland Avenue, outside the
> Nigerian High Commission on 24 November 1999 to protest ongoing massacres in
> Bayelsa State are due in Bow Street Magistrates Court at 13.45 today.
> 
> 2. Subpoenas have been issued to:
> 
> The Nigerian Acting High Commissioner in London -  as a representative of
> the Nigerian government and to defend President Obasanjo;
> 
> Mark Moody-Stuart, Chairman of Royal/Dutch Shell - to give evidence about
> Shell's collusion with  the Nigerian elite in appropriating the resources of
> the Niger Delta and in ruthlessly suppressing resistance to the company's
> operations there;
> 
> Mike Moore, Director General of the World Trade Organisation - for extending
> the powers of transnational corporations and world trade bodies at the
> expense of social welfare, environmental protection and economic justice.
> 
> 3. Reports from the oil-rich Niger Delta suggest that hundreds may have been
> killed and raped by government troops since Saturday 20 November 1999. Eye
> witnesses report that over 1500 soldiers have been moved into Bayelsa State
> with naval support and are targetting the civilian population using machine
> guns and heavy artillery. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch fear
> mass killings of innocent civilians, widespread rape and looting, and the
> burning down of villages. Up to 2000 civilian hostages are believed to have
> been taken, with people being held in military barracks.
> Casualty figures cannot be confirmed because journalists have been denied
> access to the area.
> 
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> 
> (lynx@xxxxxxxxxx)