A
Nigerian 31-year old man who was sentenced to death as a juvenile has
expressed his happiness at being released from prison and reunited with
his family after such a very long time, following a relentless global
campaign by Amnesty International.
Patrick Okoroafor was just 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 Patrick Okoroafor’s trial to have been grossly
unfair and has repeatedly called for his immediate and unconditional
release.
Authorities in Nigeria’s Imo State commuted Patrick
Okoroafor’s sentence 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” – 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.
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. He wrote:
Upon his release Patrick Okoroafor said:
“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.”
Amnesty International’s Nigeria Researcher Lucy Freeman said:
“It
is fantastic that Patrick Okoroafor is finally free. 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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