Spain Judge Opens Terrorism Case Against Boko Haram

Forum 9 years ago

Spain Judge Opens Terrorism Case Against Boko Haram

A Spanish High Court judge, Fernando Andreu said he has agreed to hear a lawsuit against the militant group Boko Haram and its leader Abubakar Shekau for crimes against humanity and terrorism.


Judge Andreu ruled that he was competent to handle the case under the principle of universal jurisdiction — which allows courts to try certain atrocities committed in other countries — because the case concerns a Spanish nun who is a victim of the group.


Spanish public prosecutors accused Boko Haram in their lawsuit of harassing and putting pressure on the nun in March 2013 in Nigeria as part of “a generalised context of actions of a terrorist nature by the jihadist organisation.”


“Many civilians, especially women and children, have been killed.


kidnapped and forcibly recruited by Boko Haram. The culprits must answer for their acts before the courts,” the prosecutors wrote in their lawsuit.


Chief prosecutor at the High Court, Javier Zaragoza told AFP news agency that what the Boko Haram group has done is barbaric.


The judge asked Interpol to prepare a report on Boko Haram and ordered the nun, Maria Jesus Mayor Garcia, to appear in court for questioning.


Boko Haram has killed thousands of people in Nigeria during a six-year insurgency to carve out an Islamic caliphate. It has also staged cross-border attacks in Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
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