By Romanus Okoye
In the wake of Fresh disclosure that evidence of massive graft against the Scotland Police and the Crown prosecution Service was swept under the carpet, indication has emerged that former Delta State State gover, James Ibori, would appeal his conviction. Ibori is serving imprisonment in a British Prison for money laundering
Head of Chief James Ibori’s Media Office, Tony Eluemunor, who made this known in a statement also faulted media reports that the conviction of the former Delta State was upheld by an Appeal Court..
Eluemunor who made this clarification during a press briefing yesterday said the report was misunderstood by some Nigerian media which screamed that Ibori’s conviction was upheld, as though an Appeal Court had ruled on the matter.
“Some TV networks had from Friday through Saturday published on their news bars the lie that a British court had upheld Ibori’s conviction,” he said.
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.
Moreover, Eluemunor said the surprising finding was at odds with the primary findings and so would 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. Also, an independent investigation will be called to determine and document the Police corruption and lack of due process for posterity.”
Eluemunor added that the report did not exonerate Detective Sergeant John McDonald, the officer at the heart of the Ibori investigation, from corrupt payments allegations.
He said that the two fundamental developments in relation to corruption and the withholding of material represent a tremendous victory for BhadreshGohil, Ibori’s former lawyer. Gohil has since taken the matter before the Appeal Courts maintaining that police corruption and misconduct were at the heart of these prosecutions.
Meanwhile, the defence lawyers allege that Scotland Yard and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) covered up evidence of police corruption in the high-profile money-laundering. But the revelation had given new weight of a substantial number of documents suggesting an officer did take bribes.