Legal Commentary

Nigeria Asks Court to Allow It to Monitor Abdulmutallab Proceedings

By Jeralyn

The Government of Nigeria this week filed this unusual pleading seeking to enter an appearance in the criminal case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab , the alleged "underpants bomber" and asked that it be provided copies of all filings and allowed to be present at hearings and trial.

The pleading states the request is made to insure the integrity of Nigeria is preserved during the proceedings. And,

To ensure that the Defendant who is a citizen of Nigeria is accorded a fair trial, due process of law , effective assistance of counsel and that his trial is in accordance with acceptable international standards without compromising the official position of the government of Nigeria on the nature of crime committed by the defendant which is a total denunciation of the alleged acts committed by the Defendant.

The request was denied. The next status conference is September 13. No trial date has been set.

Sounds to me like this was a public relations move since they can get the non-sealed pleadings off of PACER and court hearings are open to the public. But I hope someone in the Netherlands or Aruba picks up on it and files a similar request for Joran in Peru.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 23, 2010 (boomark / email).