Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has described the planned trial of 36 alleged coup plotters before a General Court Martial as unconstitutional, urging Attorney-General of the Federation Lateef Fagbemi to halt the process and prosecute the suspects at the Federal High Court instead.
Falana said the Attorney-General should invoke his powers under Section 174 of the Constitution to terminate what he called an illegal military charge, insisting offences such as treason, treasonable felony and terrorism fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal High Court.
He argued that trying six suspects in a civil court and 36 others before a military tribunal for the same offence violates the constitutional principle of equality before the law, describing the arrangement as unjustifiable.
The senior lawyer also maintained that courts-martial lack legal competence to try coup-related offences under democratic rule, noting that even during military regimes, such cases were handled by special tribunals rather than military courts.
Falana warned that since anti-democratic decrees were abolished in 1999, all treason-related cases must be tried only by the Federal High Court, stressing that any attempt to do otherwise amounts to a breach of the Constitution.