Judge who ordered me to kneel must be joking, says Sowore’s lawyer Abubakar Marshall
By Ishaya Ibrahim
Human rights lawyer Abubakar Marshall has described a judge’s order for him to kneel in open court as a violation of the constitution.
Marshall, lead defence counsel to Sahara Reporters publisher Omoyele Sowore, drew the judge’s ire after raising his voice while arguing that a proposed hearing date was inconvenient for the defence.
Justice Umar then ordered Marshall to “come out” of the bar area of the courtroom “and kneel down.”
The intervention of other lawyers, who pleaded for leniency, prompted the judge to withdraw the order.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has condemned the directive, stating that no judge has the authority to order a lawyer to kneel in court. Several other lawyers have also criticised the action.
In his reaction, Marshall noted that even schoolchildren are no longer subjected to such punishment.
He said: “Well, the NBA has spoken, but I want to believe that my Lord, Justice Umar, must really be joking. I have never in my life—in my entire practice of over a decade—seen anything like this. Even in secondary schools these days, students are not subjected to such corporal punishment. Even the idea of uttering such a statement is a violation of the constitution.”
On possible next steps, he added: “We are reviewing the situation and will decide accordingly.”
