Several senior political, military and business figures in Niger went on trial on Friday on charges of taking part in the trafficking of babies from neighboring Nigeria.
The most prominent defendant, opposition leader and former Nigerien parliament speaker Hama Amadou, was absent from the proceedings, having fled the west African nation in August last year after legislators lifted his immunity from prosecution.
However, Amadou’s wife, Hadiza Amadou, was in the dock in the heavily guarded Niamey courtroom, along with Nigerien Minister of Agriculture Abdou Labo and his wife, and an army colonel and his spouse.
After the hearing, the judge adjourned the case until Thursday next week, after citing issues with the quality of the evidence and case put forward by the prosecution.
BABY FACTORY
The defendants are accused of taking illegal custody of about 30 babies, including twins, who were born to women in private Nigerian clinics that offer infants for sale.
Claiming to be the mother of a child born to another woman is a crime punishable by up to eight years imprisonment in Niger.
The network set up to supply newborns to Niger via Benin mainly served couples who cannot have children, a judicial source told reporters.
The alleged affair first came to light in June last year.
Hadiza Amadou and about 20 other defendants spent several months in detention before being released on bail.
Nigerien prosecutors issued a warrant for Hama Amadou’s arrest in September after he went into self-imposed exile in France.
The prosecutor’s office said it had gathered evidence during “meticulous” investigations in Niger, Nigeria and Benin.
‘NO EVIDENCE’
The defense said that there was no case to answer, because there were neither victims nor plaintiffs to give evidence.
Hama Amadou — who supported Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou for election in 2011, but has since switched camp to the opposition — accused the authorities of a smear campaign in the run-up to the presidential elections set for 2016.
“No evidence has been provided to substantiate these allegations of child trafficking,” he said recently, calling it a “plot.”
His party has accused the Nigerien government of trying to “harass, isolate and take down” Issoufou’s rival.
‘TOUGH LUCK’
The government insists that the case is a purely criminal one.
“To close our eyes? Now, that would have been political,” Nigerien Minister of Justice Marou Amadou said in November last year.
Nigerien Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Bazoum, who is also chairman of the ruling party, said that if the case contributed “to weakening” Amadou, it was “tough luck for him.”
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