11 months after his conviction on a 13count charge of terrorism in a South African court, MEND leader, Henry Okah has been granted leave to appeal against certain aspects of the case against him.
The 3-point application sought leave to appeal against the jurisdiction of the court to hear counts 1-12, duplication of charges with regard to counts 3 to 8 as well as his conviction on count 13 regarding his conviction for allegedly threatening to engage in terrorist activity.
Judge Neels Claassen of the South Gauteng High court granted leave to the applicant for the first and last points but denied leave to appeal the aspect of duplication of charges.
The court had sentenced the MEND leader to a total of 34 years imprisonment, but he will spend only 24 years as the sentence will run concurrently. According to our correspondent, Betty Dibia, who was in the court, Mr Okah was found guilty on 13 counts and was sentenced to 12 years,
The first six counts were relating to the Warri bombing of 15th March, 2010.
He was also sentenced to 12 years on another six count charge for the October 1st 2010 bombing in Abuja, while he was sentenced to 10 years for MEND’s threat to deal with South Africans.
“Effectively, the accused (Mr Okah) is therefore sentenced to 24 years imprisonment,” Judge Neels Claassen said as he handed down the sentence.
On 21 January, Mr Okah was found guilty on 13 counts of terrorism, including engaging in terrorist activities, conspiracy to engage in terrorist activities, and delivering, placing, and detonating an explosive device.
The charges related to two car bombs in Abuja, Nigeria, in which 12 people were killed and 36 injured on 1 October 2010.
The second bombing took place in Warri on 15 March 2010 at a post amnesty dialogue meeting. One person was killed and 11 injured.
In both bombings, two car bombs went off minutes apart in both places. The cars were parked in close proximity to each other.
Judge Claassen sentenced Okah to 12 years imprisonment for each of the bombings and 10 years for the threats made to the South African government after his arrest in October 2010.
The 10 years would run concurrently with the 24 years.
