NIGERIAN STUDENT OLAOLU SUNKANMI FEMI |FACING LIFE IMPRISONMENT IN UKRAINE | FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER | IN SELF DEFENSE
 |
| Olaolu Sunkanmi Femi |
Olaolu Sunki Femi, a Nigerian student based in the
Ukraine, is facing life in prison for attempted murder. But according to
eye witnesses, Olaolu acted in self
defense.
Nigerian
students in the Ukraine have been protesting his arrest calling it an act of
racism. There’s even a Facebook page where
people can show support. If you haven’t heard about Olaolu’s story, in June AfricanGlobe.net reported:
Two
Nigerian students studying in Ukraine were physically assaulted in
front of their apartment by a gang of Ukrainian racists on 5 November
2011, one of the young men identified as Olaolu
Sunkanmi Femi and his friend who is still unidentified were attacked by the
gang who then pulled them to the ground while hurling racist
slurs at them.
According
to eye witness account, Sunkanmi was
said to have managed to get up and defended himself against the assailants with
a glass from a broken bottle.
“It was
while he was defending himself that police arrived at the scene and the
Nigerian was subsequently arrested and charged with attempted murder of five
people. The victim thus became an accused in a case which has become a media
circus in Ukraine.
Ola
Sunkanmi
has since been remanded in detention by the Ukrainian police who refused
to take the case to court citing unavailability of the police to get an
interpreter for him.
 |
| On 09 April 2012 - Osarumen David-Izevbokun led Nigerian Students' Community in Ukraine in protest to demand Olaolu Sunki Femi's release from detention without trial |
The actions, according to David-Izevbokun have put the Ukraine
police on the spot as the case came up for hearing on May 3. “We had a lot of
media coverage on the protest” David-Izevbokun
said, noting that he was sure the attention given the case may have prompted
the May 3 court appearance of the suspect.
LATEST
ON OLAOLU SUNKI FEMI: (TRANSLATED VERSION)
On August 13 there was a court
meeting in the case Olaolu Sunki Femi,
a Nigerian student accused of attempted murder of four Ukrainians in November
2011.
According Reutsky, the meeting
lasted for about 40 minutes. During which the panel of judges had time to
consider the petition of the accused lawyers to secure bail for Olaolu from
detention.
"The prosecutor and one of the
four victims present dismissed the petition”. The Attorney grounds the accused
lawyer's bail petition on the seriousness of the offence committed. The accused
Olaolu Femi - "he is a citizen
of another state".
After fifteen minutes of the meeting
– a decision was announced - to deny the petition - and immediately adjourned
the meeting till 14:00 on September 3, 2012 - wrote a human rights
activist, who was present at the meeting.
Reutsky also said that instead of Judge Ellen Zaporozhchenko, who previously
handled with the case, the hearing was conducted by a panel of three judges.
By the way, according to him, the
prosecutor on the case Lisicina Elena, also served as a prosecutor
in the People's Deputy Roman Landik's son.
It would be recalled, as previously
reported, according to an eyewitness, on November 5, 2011, four young men and
two girls attacked two Nigerians at the entrance of their house. The assailants
shouted at the Nigerian students in racially motivated abuse, forced them to
the ground, kicked and threw stones at them. Olaolu Sunkanmi Femi managed to get up, and he began to defend himself
with broken neck of a bottle. The attackers retreated, police arrived the scene and Olaolu Sunkanmi Femi was arrested, then charged with attempted murder of Ukrainian citizens Gaman VI, Lemenchuka DY,
AS Loboda and Pashkova
IR.
More Images from April 9, 2012
protest to request the release of Olaolu Sunki Femi from detention without
trial:
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