AfriqueCAN
THE Federal High Court in Abuja has granted bail to activist and social media commentator, Justice Mark Chidiebere, popularly known as ‘Justice Crack’ in the sum of N5 million.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik while ruling on the bail application, ordered that the bail bond must be backed by one surety in like sum.
The court held that the proposed surety must reside within the jurisdiction of the court, at a fixed address for at least four years and must deposit proof of residence, either through a tenancy agreement or certificate of occupancy, at the court registry.
The surety is also required to be a federal civil servant not below grade level 15, with evidence of at least three months’ salary, a letter of authentication from the immediate head of department, as well as proof of pensionable employment.
The court further directed that the surety must depose to an affidavit of means, submit a recent passport photograph, while the defendant is to deposit his international passport with the court.
Earlier, the prosecution counsel, M.L. Jackson, informed the court that the prosecution was ready to commence trial.
The first prosecution witness, identified as Uruntu Douglas, a DSS operative, told the court that he came to know the defendant during investigations after he was transferred to the DSS by the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps.
The witness said the defendant voluntarily made an extra-judicial statement which was recorded in the presence of his lawyers.
According to the witness, soldiers had sent pictures to the defendant, who allegedly made videos from the images and posted them on social media without confirming the authenticity of the materials from military sources.
He further told the court that investigators extracted data from the defendant’s phone, including videos allegedly posted online, conversations between the defendant and some soldiers, chats with his godfather allegedly discussing protests, as well as excerpts from his social media pages.
The witness added that a certificate of compliance was issued and signed by a superior officer after the forensic process was concluded.
During proceedings, defence counsel, Sam Amadi, informed the court that the defence had not been served with the investigation report and other documents sought to be tendered by the prosecution.
The prosecution, however, described the failure as an oversight and apologized before the court.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik subsequently admitted the DSS investigation report as Exhibit A.
The prosecution also tendered an iPhone allegedly recovered from the defendant, a flash drive said to contain videos posted on social media platforms, conversations extracted from the device, and the certificate of compliance.
The defence objected to the admissibility of the flash drive, arguing that its contents had not been described or played before the court.
The matter has been adjourned to May 25 for continuation of trial, with the first prosecution witness yet to be discharged.
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