The Internal Criminal Court on Monday said Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is liable to prosecution. The global criminal court added that it had begun conducting preliminary examinations relating to the situations in Nigeria. In an email written to our correspondent, the Office of the prosecutor stated that it received the petition written by the major opposition party in Nigeria, the All Progressives Congress, asking the ICC to prosecute President Goodluck Jonathan’s wife for making inciting comments that might lead to violence. The email read:
“Under Article 15 of the Rome Statue, the Prosecutor of the ICC may receive information on crimes within the jurisdiction on the Court (also called ‘Communication’). With regards to your enquiry, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court can confirm receipt of the communication referred to since the sender (APC) has made this fact public in the media.”
It added that the court would take all the necessary steps, which will likely include interrogating the President’s wife and others mentioned in the petition of the APC.
“The office will give consideration to this communication, as appropriate, in accordance with the provisions of the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, as it does with all such communications,” the email sent to our correspondent concluded.
Also, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, on Monday issued a press statement made available to our correspondent. In it, she reiterated the stance of the ICC to prosecute anyone who promotes or instigates violence before, during or after the general elections.
The ICC prosecutor noted that it had already started to conduct independent and impartial investigations and prosecution of the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur, Sudan, Libya, Ivory Coast and Mali.
“The Office is also conducting preliminary examinations relating to the situations in Afghanistan, Colombia, Georgia, Guinea, Honduras, Iraq, Nigeria, Ukraine and Palestine,” the ICC said.