AhlulBayt News Agency

source : ihrc.org
Thursday

1 July 2021

5:58:43 AM
1155659

Write to your Foreign Minister to put pressure on Nigerian authorities over Sheikh Zakzaky

IHRC requests all campaigners to write to the Foreign Minister of their country to demand the Nigerian authorities release Sheikh and Mallima immediately and ensure the malicious prosecution of all the members of the Islamic Movement ceases immediately.

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): IHRC requests all campaigners to write to the Foreign Minister of their country to demand the Nigerian authorities release Sheikh and Mallima immediately and ensure the malicious prosecution of all the members of the Islamic Movement ceases immediately.

The campaign message is as follow:

Background

The court hearing to dismiss the case against Sheikh Zakzaky and Mualima Zeenah will resume on the 1st July 2021. The pair has been enduring a continually disrupted and delayed hearing to dismiss a case initiated against them in Kaduna.

The Sheikh and his wife have been kept in unlawful detention for over five years. The Federal High Court of Nigeria, the highest court in Nigeria, has ordered the Sheikh and his wife’s release, including compensation. However, the state authorities have decided to prosecute the couple and imprison them in the Kaduna State Prison, where living conditions pose a severe threat to their wellbeing, especially in the current pandemic climate.

The FreeZakzaky campaign demands the immediate release of Sheikh and his wife and all those detained after the Zaria Massacre of 2015. For more information and further action, alerts visit the campaign page.

Action required

IHRC requests all campaigners to write to the Foreign Minister of their country to demand the Nigerian authorities release Sheikh and Mallima immediately and ensure the malicious prosecution of all the members of the Islamic Movement ceases immediately.

A model email/letter is also provided should you use it and emails for key countries. Please keep all correspondence polite.

Model Email

Subject: Urgent – Release Sheikh Zakzaky and Muallima Zeenah immediately

Dear [Insert Foreign Minister’s name],

I am writing to inform you about the continued illegal detention of Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and Muallima Zeenah. Over five years now, the Sheikh and his wife have been kept in unlawful detention.

A High Court ruling ordering the couple’s release in 2017 has never been implemented. And since they were charged in 2018, the Zakzakys’ trial has been adjourned several times, reinforcing the view that Nigerian authorities are abusing the judicial system to keep them in prison in the hope that they will die quietly in custody. Currently hearing to dismiss the case against them resumes on 1st July, at the Kaduna High Court.

I write to ask your office to make immediate interventions with the Nigerian authorities demanding they desist. Your office must seriously consider what punitive actions you can take unilaterally and part of international organisations, if necessary, to facilitate Nigeria’s compliance with fundamental human rights standards.

I trust you will make immediate representations.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

[Your name]

Recipient email addresses:

Selected names and email addresses of Ministers of Foreign Affairs can be found below. Please contact us at info@ihrc.org if you have trouble finding the details of your country’s Minister.

United Kingdom

Dominic Raab

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

fcocorrespondence@fco.gov.uk

Turkey

MevlütÇavuşoğlu

Minister of Foreign Affairs

http://www.mfa.gov.tr/contact-us.en.mfa

Australia

Senator Marise Payne

Minister for Foreign Affairs

Senator.Payne@aph.gov.au

Bangladesh

HE Mr. AK Abdul Momen, MP

Foreign Minister

fm@mofa.gov.bd

Bolivia

Diego Pary

Minister of Foreign Affairs

mreuno@rree.gob.bo

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Igor Crnadak

Minister of Foreign Affairs

info_mvpbih@mvp.gov.ba

Canada

The Hon. Chrystia Freeland

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Chrystia.Freeland@parl.gc.ca

Finland

PekkaHaavisto

Minister for Foreign Affairs

umi@formin.fi

France

Jean-Yves Le Drian

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development

Web Form

India

Dr.SubrahmanyamJaishankar

Minister of External Affairs

eam@mea.gov.in

Indonesia

RetnoMarsudi

Minister of Foreign Affairs

kontak-kami@kemlu.go.id

Iran

H.E. Mohammad Javad Zarif

Minister of Foreign Affairs

matbuat@mfa.gov.ir

Ireland

Simon Coveney

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

simon.coveney@oir.ie

Senator Kamina Johnson-Smith

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade

ps@mfaft.gov.jm

Malaysia

The Hon. Dato’ Saifuddin bin Abdullah

Minister of Foreign Affairs

anifah@kln.gov.my / pro.ukk@kln.gov.my

The Netherlands

Stef Blok

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Web Form

Norway

Ine Marie EriksenSøreide

Minister of Foreign Affairs

utenriksminister@mfa.no

Pakistan

Shah Mehmood Qureshi

Minister of Foreign Affairs

asif.na110@na.gov.pk / fax: 051-9207600

South Africa

Lindiwe Sisulu

Minister of International Relations and Cooperation

info@foreign.gov.za

Spain

Josep Borrell

Minister of Foreign Affairs & Cooperation

se.aex@maec.es

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