Patrick Okoroafor, 31, who was sentenced to death in Imo State at the
age of 16 in 1997, has expressed his happiness at being released from
prison and reunited with his family after such a very long time,
following a global campaign by Amnesty International.
Okoroafor was 14 when he was arrested in 1995 and 16 when sentenced
to death for armed robbery, a crime which he says he didn’t commit.
"Amnesty International considers Okoroafor’s trial to have been
grossly unfair and has repeatedly called for his immediate and
unconditional release," the human rights group stated on Wednesday.
Okoroafor’s sentence was commuted to life imprisonment months after
the original death sentence was imposed. In October 2001, a High Court
judgement pronounced the sentence of death on him to be unlawful, null
and void and changed his sentence to detention "during the pleasure of
the governor"; another term for indefinite detention.
"In 2009, one year after Amnesty International launched its campaign
to release Patrick Okoroafor; his sentence was reduced to ten years.
The following year it was reduced again to two years. He was finally
released on 30 April 2012," stated the organisation.
Patrick Okoroafor featured regularly in Amnesty’s global solidarity
letter-writing campaign and has received more than 10,000 cards and
letters. In writing a letter of gratitude in 2010, Patrick Okoroafor
encouraged his supporters to not give up in their efforts of campaigning
for him.
"After Amnesty began its call for my release from prison, and after
reading some of the thousands of letters, card and messages sent to me
by Amnesty supporters, I began to hope that I would soon be free in the
not too distant future," he said after his release.
Amnesty International’s Nigeria Researcher Lucy Freeman, also
expressed happiness at the development and called for stronger efforts
to free other prisoners denied a fair trial in the country.
"It is fantastic that Patrick Okoroafor is finally free," she said.
"Patrick was denied the right to a fair trial and was a victim of a
miscarriage of justice. Unfortunately, Patrick Okoroafor was just one of
many prisoners in Nigeria who did not have a fair trial. Human rights
violations are prevalent in Nigeria’s justice system. Arbitrary arrest
and detention, torture and unfair trials are features of many inmates’
experience."
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