Several people have died in recent months  in demonstrations in the capital Abuja calling for this concession.

The ailing 66-year-old Ibrahim Zakzaky will be accompanied by Nigerian officials tasked with  ensuring  he returns home to face trial on charges of culpable homicide.

His wife Zeenah, who also requires urgent medical treatment, is travelling with him.

Supporters of Zakzaky, who converted from Sunni Islam to form the pro-Iranian Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria, says he is losing his sight after suffering a number of strokes.

Nigerian authorities have failed to comply with an earlier court ruling that Zakzaky be released.

The post Nigerian court grants Shia leader bail to seek medical treatment in India appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

Judge Thokozile Masipa’s  rejected the State’s bid for leave to appeal the six-year jail sentence for murder she eventually  imposed on Pistorius.

ends intro

It was Judge Thokozile Masipa who found Oscar Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide and sent him to jail for five year  years.

The Appeal Court overturned that last December and found the legless athlete guilty of murder – giving rise to the  heavier sentence she imposed.

She pointed out that time that there was not a shred of evidence that Pistorius knew when he was firing through a toilet door that his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was on the other side.

Pistorius’s defence has been that he believed he was shooting at an intruder.

Masipa said in the Pretoria High Court today (Friday) that she’s  not persuaded that there are reasonable prospects of success for an appeal. She dismissed with costs the application for leave to appeal.

Earlier, Barry Roux, for Pistorius, argued that the State was merely dragging out legal processes and subjecting the former Paralympian to continued uncertainty.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued that deviating from the prescribed 15-year minimum sentence for murder induces a sense of shock.

The post Prosecution loses bid to get an even tougher sentence against Pistorius appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

He has to serve half this sentence before being able to apply for parole.

Judge Thokozile Masina, who sentenced him in October 2014 to five years for culpable homicide, found the mitigating evidence outweighed the aggravating factors to be considered in imposing the sentence  for the murder conviction imposed by the Appeal Court last December.

She found Oscar to be a good candidate for rehabilitation.

Masipa says there was no a shred of evidence offered that Oscar has knowingly shot his lover Reeve Steenkamp, so this was not a case of domestic violence or violence against women.

This is, however, the public misperception about the case.

Masina says she has to serve the public interest not address public opinion.

Pistorius’ defence  will not appeal the sentence.

Masipa is waiting in her chamber to see if the prosecution will seek leave to appeal.

The post Oscar Pistorius is back in prison appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

Dr Jonathon Scholtz tells a sentencing hearing in the Pretoria High Court that Pistorius should be hospitalised not returned to prison as is expected after his manslaughter conviction was upgraded to murder.

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The sentencing hearing for South Africa’s disgraced golden boy is set down to last until Friday.

Judge Thokozile Masipa, who’s manslaughter conviction was overturned by the Appeal Court who found Oscar Pistorius guilty of murder, is once again on the bench.

She has to impose the harsher sentence on the accused, who insists he fired the fatal shots that killed Reeva Steenkamp through the bathroom door of his apartment believing there was an  intruder.

South Africa’s criminal law lays down a mandatory 15 year sentence for murder.

1. Masipa may reduce this if there are extraordinary circumstances. She may also take into account that Pistorius has served a year in prison of  the five-year sentence she originally laid down.

Psychiatrist Jonathon Scholtz reported during the original trial that there were two Oscars – the Olympic hero with his prosthesis and the insecure frightened boy on his stumps.

Now he says there’s a third Pistorius  who’s too broken-sprited to give evidence in mitigation of his sentence.

He’s suffering deep anxiety, paranoia and post traumatic stress.

He should be hospitalized not incarcerated.

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