On this day..November 10th 1995

by Justin Morahan - Peace People Wednesday, Nov 9 2005, 1:04pm ''1995 Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 other activists, hanged in NigeriaThe Nigerian playwright and environmental activist, is hanged in Nigeria along with eight other activists from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (Mosop). Saro-Wiwa, an outspoken critic of Nigeria's military regime, was charged by the government with the murder of four members of his own movement. Saro-Wiwa maintained that he was being unlawfully silenced for his criticism of the exploitation of the oil-rich Ogoni basin by the Nigerian ruling government and the Shell Petroleum Development Company. Most of the international community agreed, but Nigerian leader General Sani Abacha refused to grant the defendants an appeal, and would not delay the executions. Before his death, Saro-Wiwa had won Sweden's prestigious Right Livelihood Award, and had also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. In reaction to the executions, US president Bill Clinton recalls the US ambassador from Lagos and imposes an arms ban, although trade with oil-rich Nigeria continues.''http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/all42day/history/h4nov/h4nov10.html