(11 May 1997) English/Nat
Several of Nigeria's leading dissidents have gone on trial in Lagos, accused of planting bombs and conspiring to topple the government.
But the trial began Friday in the absence of a number of key defendants - including exiled 1986 Nobel Literature Prize winner, Wole Soyinka.
Speaking in New York, Soyinka refused to accept the legitimacy of the court and vowed to continue the fight to restore democracy in Nigeria.
Wole Soyinka fled his native Nigeria two years ago after discovering the authorities planned to arrest him for speaking out against military rule.
He now lives in exile in New York, where he continues his pro-democracy campaign.
Speaking on Friday, he denounced the trial of dissidents in Nigeria as an absurd charade.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"How is it possible for any human being first of all to be guilty of treason against an illegitimate regime. The whole situation is totally absurd, Kafka-esque. What I mean is that, there is only one principal individual in Nigeria who should be in the dock for treason, for treasonable felony, and that person is Sani Abacha (Nigeria's President)"
SUPER CAPTION: Wole Soyinka, Exiled Nigerian Playwright
Soyinka, along with 15 other activists, is accused of planting bombs as part of a conspiracy to bring down the Nigerian government.
But Soyinka dismisses such charges of terrorism as ridiculous.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"To try and suggest that I have had time in all my preoccupations - Globe-trotting, mounting up international opposition against this illegitimate regime - to suggest that I have had time to start organising and planting bombs in Nigeria. It can only be the fantasy of a deranged or diabolical mind, or both."
SUPER CAPTION: Wole Soyinka, Exiled Nigerian Playwright
Nigeria's most celebrated dissident also vows one day to return to his homeland.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I most certainly will be going back to that country. I'll be going back to a free country. Or I'll be going back in time to participate in the final critical stages of freeing that nation, but I will be going back."
(Q: How can you be so sure?)
"Why am I so sure? Because I have no intention of dying in exile."
SUPER CAPTION: Wole Soyinka, Exiled Nigerian Playwright
Nigeria's government has already hanged nine dissidents in 1995, prompting E-U sanctions against the military regime.
If convicted, those currently on trial in Lagos face a similar fate.
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