Legal luminaries task lawyers on modalities against death sentence for capital offenders

Legal luminaries working towards the abolishment of death penalty for capital offenders across Africa, have urged Capital Defense Lawyers in the continent to do whatever they can to eliminate the possibility of their client being sentenced to death.

The professionals who converged in Abuja for a three-day workshop to train Criminal Defense Lawyers in Nigeria and Ghana, addressed a diverse group of legal experts committed to equipping lawyers with the skills and knowledge required to provide quality legal services to individuals facing the gravest of consequences.

The workshop put together by Hope Behind Bars Africa, Center for Legal Support and Inmate Rehabilitation and The Inclusion Project was themed, ‘Defending Persons Facing the Death Penalty’.

According to the organizers, the workshop, funded in part by the Makwanyane Institute Stewardship Grant, aimed not only to enhance the expertise and dedication of legal professionals but to encourage participants to extend their legal expertise to indigent individuals in need.

Speaking, Hope Behind Bars Africa founder, Oluwafunke Adeoye, who referred to capital punishment as an absolute punishment, regretted that when people who have been charged for these offences cannot afford adequate legal representation it becomes a big problem.

According to Adeoye, it was for that reason the right group bodies decided to forge a partnership to train Lawyers to effectively represent their clients in court.

Senior Partner at Obour, Minta and Co, Accra, Mohammed Muniru Kassim, who acknowledged that defending people on death row may not be pleasant noted that the process was a very noble aspect of the legal profession.

Kassim stressed the need for Capital Defense Lawyers that in Africa to be encouraged and supported with training.

During her training on ‘Cross Examination Techniques’, Founder and Executive Director of CELSIR, Aladesanmi Joke Olamiposi, charged all participants on the need to explore all possible and ethical means to extract testimony from witnesses when establishing their case despite many of the hostilities that may be involved.

“As a human rights Lawyer it behooves on you to maintain composure, stay calm, professional, and respectful, even when faced with hostile or uncooperative witnesses. avoid arguments or confrontations”, she admonished them.

Co-founder of the Inclusion Project, Pamela Okoroigwe, trained participants on Plea Bargaining, stated: “The myth of the Great Capital Trial Lawyer does not exist. The best Capital Defence Lawyers do whatever they can to eliminate the possibility of their client being sentenced to death. Negotiating pleas is a critical part of this important advocacy.”

Participants at the Workshop were also treated to the film screening of “Just Mercy”, a story of an American Capital Defender who braced all odds to represent his client on death row. The training utilized role plays, group discussions with in depth interactive sessions.