The Nigerian activist faces 5 different charges, including conspiring to blow up oil pipelines operated by Shell in Nigeria. RNW Africa covered the trial live from the court of justice in Rotterdam on Monday afternoon September 5th here on our site.

The session on Monday is a preliminary hearing or procedural session which does not handle the case proper. Only questions of procedure, for example the number of witnesses that will be heard, are addressed by the parties.

The lawyers of the accused told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that they request access to files they say are part of Ofehe’s dossier but that have not been handed over to them by the prosecution. They ask for the original recordings of the tapped telephone conversations in Pidgin English which they argue form the basis for the terrorism accusation.

On the witness stand, they request the appearance of some of the 25 police officers involved in the investigation. They also request the appearance of an expert on Nigeria from the Netherlands.

RNW’s Hélène Michaud has been blogging live from the courtroom. Do also follow the discussion and add comments on our Facebook and Twitter pages.