An Abuja Division of the Federal High Court yesterday, declined to allow the Federal Government try the former National Security Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki, retd, secretly.
Dasuki is standing trial for alleged money laundering and illegal possession of firearms.
While declining the application by the Federal Government , Justice Ademola Adeniyi ordered that the defendant who has been in detention since November 3, 2015, be granted access to his family members and lawyers.
The court maintained that there was no point for it to make an order allowing FG to mask the witnesses to testify in the matter or to allow them to bear pseudo names.
Justice Adeniyi pointed out that FG had in the charge against Dasuki, supplied names and addresses of the 11 witnesses it intends to call against Dasuki, a document he said was already in the public domain.
The court also said that there was no evidence to show that the life of the witnesses was being threatened, stressing that the defendant was not charged for acts of terrorism.
It therefore refused the government’s application for only lawyers and accredited Journalists to be allowed inside the court room during the trial.
Lawyer to Dasuki, Mr. Ahmed Raji, SAN, had earlier told the court that operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, kept his client incommunicado since December 29, 2015, when he was re-arrested after perfecting his bail conditions.
He insisted that the protracted detention of his client has hampered his right to prepare his defence.
He equally said Dasuki’s aged father who had gone to see him along with the former Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki and other family members were denied access to him.
As a result, Justice Adeniyi, ordered the security agency to grant Dasuki access to his visitors on Tuesdays and Thursdays for at least two hours.
Specifically, the court directed that the defendant should on each of the visiting days, be granted access to four lawyers and two members of his family.
He said such meetings should take place in the Interview Room at the DSS Headquarters and the Federal High Court premises in Abuja.
