to due process. The plaintiff rather recognized that he was arrested, tried and
convicted. The Defendant contends that the Plaintiff not being a diplomatic agent of
the Defendant at the time of his arrest and not being arrested on account of actions
or conduct carried out in the exercise of his official duty, is not entitled to immunity
from criminal jurisdiction of the United States of America.
i. The Defendant also contends that the ECOWAS Convention on Privileges and
Immunities is only applicable to ECOWAS Member States. The issue of the
Plaintiff’s incarceration in the United States, the subject matter of this proceedings
is a matter between the Government of the Defendant and Government of the United
States which is not a member of ECOWAS.
j. That the Plaintiff’s Counsel in the statement of facts only intended to mislead the
Court. According to the Defendant,
“Plaintiff’s pleas in law, specifically on page 6 of the Plaintiff’s
application recites/ quotes Article 31(1) of the Vienna
Convention on Diplomatic Relations but cites same as Vienna
Convention on Consular Relations being fully aware that the
provision of the law grants immunity to diplomatic agents and
not Consular Officers”.
K. Furthermore, the Defendant also contended that Articles 2, 3, 4,5,6,7 of the
African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right relied on by the Plaintiff are not
supportive of the Plaintiff’s theory and the facts and circumstances of this case.
In Conclusion, the Defendant contended that based on the facts and circumstances
of the case, the Plaintiff was not arbitrarily arrested, deprived his right to personal
liberty, neither was he deprived of his freedom except for reasons and conditions
p. 9