“Self-Defence is No Offence”: Nigerian Student on Trial in Ukraine

“Let's support Olaolu Femi” (screenshot of a Facebook community).

On Nov. 5, 2011, Olaolu Femi, a Nigerian student in Ukraine, was attacked by a group of young people in the city of Luhansk; he was detained the next day, and his alleged attempt to defend himself and a friend was interpreted by the Ukrainian prosecutors as attempted murder, for which he is now facing a minimum of 10-15 years and up to life in jail. He has spent the past year in a pre-trial detention center. “Self-defence is no offence” is the slogan of the campaign in his support [en].

More on the campaign: Free Olaolu on Facebook [ru, en]; information on the case at Justice for Olaolu Femi blog [en, uk]; an online petition demanding Femi's release and a fair trial for him (1,118 signatures so far).

2 comments

  • […] November 2011 a Nigerian University Student by the name of  Olaolu Femi was walking with his friend in the city of Luhansk Ukraine when a gang younger people attacked […]

  • camaro_mang

    this is racist. i will never go to the Ukraine

Join the conversation

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.

Receive great stories from around the world directly in your inbox.

Sign up to receive the best of Global Voices!

Submitted addresses will be confirmed by email, and used only to keep you up to date about Global Voices and our mission. See our Privacy Policy for details.

Newsletter powered by Mailchimp (Privacy Policy and Terms).

* = required field
Email Frequency



No thanks, show me the site