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Sudan’s Bashir in court for graft trial: AFP
KHARTOUM, Aug 19, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Sudan’s deposed military leader Omar
al-Bashir, who ruled the country for 30 years, arrived in court Monday in
Khartoum for the start of his trial on corruption charges.
Bashir, 75, was forced from power on April 11, after months of protest
against his regime and appeared before a prosecutor for the first time on
June 16.
Now detained, the Islamist general was informed by the prosecutor’s office
that he faced charges of “possessing foreign currency, corruption and
receiving gifts illegally”.
An AFP reporter outside the Judicial and Legal Science Institute where the
trial is taking place said Bashir arrived in a huge military convoy.
In April, Sudan’s army ruler General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said more than
$113 million worth of cash in three currencies had been seized from Bashir’s
residence.
In May, the prosecutor general also said Bashir had been charged over
killings during the anti-regime protests which eventually led to his ouster.
Protests against Bashir’s rule erupted on December 19 after his government
tripled the price of bread.
The most serious indictments facing Bashir, who ruled the country since
seizing power in a 1989 coup, have been filed by the Hague-based
International Criminal Court (ICC).
They include war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide for his role
in the war in Darfur, where a rebellion erupted in 2003.
The United Nations says the conflict has left more than 300,000 people
dead and 2.5 million displaced, with hundreds of thousands still living in
miserable and impoverished camps more than a decade and a half later.
The ICC has for years demanded that Bashir stand trial, and has renewed
its call since his fall.
In a statement issued last week, Amnesty International warned that his
graft trial should not distract from the heavier charges he faces in The
Hague.
“While this trial is a positive step towards accountability for some of
his alleged crimes, he remains wanted for heinous crimes committed against
the Sudanese people,” Amnesty’s Joan Nyanyuki said.
“Omar al-Bashir has evaded justice for far too long as the victims of
horrific crimes still wait for justice and reparations more than a decade
since the ICC issued the first warrant for his arrest,” she said.
The London-based watchdog urged the country’s new transitional
institutions to ratify the ICC’s Rome Statute, a move that allows for his
transfer to the international tribunal.
Sudan’s ruling generals and protest leaders were expected to announce the
composition of a transitional sovereign council on Monday.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1512 hrs