In Nigeria, for the first time in history, a court imposed a death sentence using the video conferencing service Zoom.
How
everything was
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Olalekan Hamidajudged virtually. He himself was at that time in a maximum security prison, the Lagos judge Mojisola Dada was in court, and the lawyers and the attorney general were in other places. The meeting lasted more than 3 hours.
Olalekan was tried for a crime committed in 2018: he was found guilty of murdering his employer's mother. True, he did not admit his guilt.
As a result, the defendant was sentenced to deathexecution by hanging. “The verdict of this court is that you will be hanged by the neck until you are pronounced dead and may God have mercy on your soul. This is a virtual court decision,” the judge emphasized.
Will Hamid appeal the verdict - for now?unknown. The sentence must still be approved by the state governor. But Human Rights Watch, which monitors human rights violations, has already said it is “cruel and inhumane,” although it acknowledged that creating a virtual court during a pandemic shows a desire for justice.
By the way, the last three executions took place in Nigeria in 2016. Courts continue to hand down death sentences, but the death penalty has not been used since.
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