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Ibori appeals conviction in UK

The convicted former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, is to appeal his conviction in a British court for money laundering.

According to Head of Chief James Onanefe Ibori’s Media Office, Tony Eluemunor, the British National Crime Agency (NCA) has confirmed that police officers, working within the elite Department for International Development funded Police Unit prosecuting Ibori were corrupt and had withheld substantial material from the defence teams.

He said that this was the thrust of the new weight of evidence which, according to him, the Nigerian media misunderstood when it was reported that Ibori’s conviction was upheld, as if an Appeal Court had ruled on the matter.

Eluemunor, in a press statement, explained that the NCA report simply confirmed explosive revelations of corruption and abuse of the British court process by the Prosecution Service, such as disclosure rules guiding British court procedures.

He said the report was a damning and fatal indictment on the prosecution of the Ibori and linked cases. “The report however strangely concluded that the Police Officers’ corruption in the case and their withholding of material from the defence do not undermine the safety of the convictions.

“This surprising finding is at odds with the primary findings and so will now be tested to its fullest in the British courts.

“The question was whether there were malicious cover-ups and if the courts were misled; and the reports said yes, there were.

“Thus, at best, the report is another cover-up for an earlier cover up, and an attempt at media manipulation.

“But the Crown Prosecution Service cannot fundamentally determine whether the conviction is safe or doomed; only the courts can so determine,” he stated.

He also said an Independent Investigation will be called to determine and document the Police corruption and lack of due process levels for posterity.

He said further that even the report did not exonerate Detective Sergeant John McDonald, the officer at the heart of the Ibori investigation, from corrupt allegations.

“The two fundamental developments in relation to corruption and the withholding of material represent a tremendous victory for Bhadresh Gohil, Ibori’s former lawyer. Gohil has long maintained police corruption and misconduct at the heart of these prosecutions. The lawyer has taken the matter before the Appeal Courts.

“Legal experts have confirmed that the Crown Prosecution’s position is untenable and flies in the face of all known constitutional safeguards and undermines every sense of fair and open justice. Corrupt Police officers and the withholding of key material do not permit for a fair trial, and so the English legal system justifiably frowns at such,” he said.

“The case demonstrates the truly shocking behaviour of the British Crown Prosecution Service. Despite the overwhelming evidence of corruption by British anti-corruption officers, it continues to prosecute James Ibori and others when it now has in its possession evidence as to the source of his funds. It is believed that Ms. Saunders’s position is now untenable. As the Director of Public Prosecutions she has engineered a shocking cover-up.”

He said it was surprising that the September 16, 2016 BBC report written by Mark Easton, Home editor, and entitled “New evidence Supports Cover-up Claims in Ibori Case” stated it accurately, saying,  “Claims that Scotland Yard and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) covered up evidence of police corruption in a high-profile money-laundering case have been given new weight after the discovery of a substantial number of documents suggesting an officer did take bribes.”

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