CCPR/C/121/D/2764/2016
4.21 As regards the arguments based on article 16, the State party points out that the
criminal liability of legal persons does not exclude the individual liability of the natural
persons who have committed or been accessory to the acts in question. Mr. Zogo Andela
should not try to hide behind the legal personality of the company that he represented in
order to escape prosecution.
4.22 Lastly, according to the State party, the author’s allegations under article 26 are
unfounded, in that the author has not shown in what way the situation of the other persons
prosecuted for misappropriation of public funds was identical to that of Mr. Zogo Andela or
established any improper difference in treatment.
4.23 The State party invites the Committee to reject the author’s claims as being
unfounded and to recognize that it is not the Committee’s function to issue financial
sanctions against States.
Author’s comments on the State party’s observations
5.1
On 2 March 2017, the author conveyed his comments on the State party’s
observations. He also added a further complaint under article 7 of the Covenant, arguing
that the appalling living conditions and detention conditions to which Mr. Zogo Andela was
subjected had had an impact on his health. In addition, all his property and assets had been
unjustly frozen. Mr. Zogo Andela was thus unable to care for himself properly, to eat
adequately or to honour his financial commitments, including his counsel’s fees. The author
therefore alleged that the decision to freeze Mr. Zogo Andela’s accounts, to sell his
property unlawfully and to seal up the furniture in his house, over and above his detention,
and the denial of care and food in line with the diet prescribed by his doctors, were
detrimental to his physical health and constituted inhuman and degrading treatment.
5.2
As far as the legal aspect is concerned, the author maintains and reiterates his claims
that the remedies have been ineffective and that Mr. Zogo Andela was not required to
request release on bail, since he submitted a bar to proceedings on the basis of the statute of
limitations applying to his case, which ought to have obliged the examining magistrate not
to examine the case and to order the withdrawal of the remand warrant issued on 30 March
2011.
5.3
The author contests the Supreme Court’s conclusions of 1 July 2015. He says that no
judicial inquiry was held in the case of Mr. Zogo Andela and accuses the State party of
having fabricated false evidence 12 to fit the circumstances. He reiterates his assertion that
the detention of Mr. Zogo Andela without trial since 30 March 2011 is excessive.
Issues and proceedings before the Committee
Consideration of admissibility
6.1
Before considering any claim contained in a communication, the Committee must, in
accordance with rule 93 of its rules of procedure, decide whether or not the case is
admissible under the Optional Protocol to the Covenant.
6.2
The Committee has ascertained, as required by article 5 (2) (a) of the Optional
Protocol, that the same matter is not being examined by any other international procedure
of investigation or settlement.
6.3
The Committee notes that the State party contests the admissibility of the
communication on the grounds that domestic remedies were not exhausted within the terms
of article 5 (2) (b) of the Optional Protocol.
6.4
In that respect, the Committee takes note of the author’s claims under article 9 (1),
(3), (4) and (5) of the Covenant concerning the detention of Mr. Zogo Andela, which he
contends is arbitrary. The Committee notes the argument put forward by the State party that
the author has not exhausted domestic remedies, inasmuch as he has not used the available
12
10
Reference is made to the documents provided by the State party and mentioned in para. 4.11, above.
GE.17-22814