• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
No Result
View All Result
1
Home Africa

Former Sudan president sentenced to two years in detention

14 December 2019, 5:00 PM  |
Reuters Reuters |  @SABCNews
Sudan's ousted President Omar al-Bashir is seen inside the defendant's cage during his and some of his former allies trial over the 1989 military coup that brought the autocrat to power in 1989, at a courthouse in Khartoum, Sudan

Sudan's ousted President Omar al-Bashir is seen inside the defendant's cage during his and some of his former allies trial over the 1989 military coup that brought the autocrat to power in 1989, at a courthouse in Khartoum, Sudan

Image: Reuters

Sudan's ousted President Omar al-Bashir is seen inside the defendant's cage during his and some of his former allies trial over the 1989 military coup that brought the autocrat to power in 1989, at a courthouse in Khartoum, Sudan

A Sudanese court has convicted former president Omar al-Bashir on corruption charges and sentenced him to two years in detention.

The presiding judge ordered that Bashir, 75, be sent to a reform facility rather than a prison on account of his age.

Dressed in traditional white robes and a turban, Bashir watched silently from inside a metal defendant’s cage while the judge, Al-Sadiq Abdelrahman, read out the verdict.

“The convict, Omar al-Bashir, is consigned to a social reform facility for a period of two years…The sums of foreign and national currency that were seized are confiscated,” Abdelrahman said.

The money was found in Bashir’s residence when he was deposed by the military in April following months of street protests against his three-decade rule.

The charges, which included possession of illicit foreign currency, carried a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

Bashir’s prosecution is seen as a test of how fast and how far military and civilian authorities now sharing power in Sudan will act to overturn his legacy.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, which spearheaded protests earlier in 2019, welcomed the verdict as a “political and moral condemnation” of Bashir and his regime, while noting that it was only one of several cases against the former president and his allies.

Ahead of the ruling, troops and military vehicles were deployed in the centre of the capital Khartoum, blocking access to the presidential palace and the Defence Ministry.

There was also a heavy security presence at the court.

About 3 000 supporters of the ex-president’s Islamist movement rallied in the centre of the city.

“Today we went out to demonstrate to defend Islamic religion and against secularism,” said 34-year-old protester Ahmed Yassin.

Bashir is also wanted by the International Criminal Court, which issued arrest warrants against him in 2009 and 2010 on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s restive Darfur region.

Appeal

Bashir’s lead defense lawyer Ahmed Ibrahim al-Tahir said he would appeal.

“The judge made the ruling based on political motives, but despite that, we still have confidence in the Sudanese judiciary,” Tahir told reporters.

Several other judicial cases have been launched in Sudan against Bashir. In May, he was charged with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters, and this week he was summoned for questioning over his role in the 1989 military coup that brought him to power.

Authorities running Sudan under a three-year, power-sharing deal struck in August are eager to demonstrate progress in the country’s political transition ahead of the first anniversary of the start of the uprising against Bashir.

On Friday, the Sudanese military officer in charge of removing the powers of the old regime announced that Sudan’s bar association and trade union governing bodies were being dissolved, according to state news agency SUNA.

He also announced that a committee was being formed to dissolve the assets of Bashir’s National Congress Party.

Protests triggered by a deepening economic crisis began to spread across Sudan on 19 December 2018.

Nearly four months later, a group of military generals removed Bashir from power and jailed him in Khartoum’s Kobar prison where he had incarcerated thousands of opponents of his repressive rule.

Share article
Tags: SudanOmar Al-BashirAl-Sadiq Abdelrahman
Previous Post

Mark Boucher appointed as Cricket SA head coach

Next Post

Fight against GBV needs all hands on deck: Mlambo-Ngcuka

Related Posts

Militants

‘Gunmen kill 8, kidnap 60 in northwest Nigeria’

24 September 2023, 9:14 PM
Prime Minister of Lesotho Sam Matekane.

Lesotho PM calls UN for more support for least developed countries

24 September 2023, 8:00 PM
Firefighters extinguish a burning building.

Fire in shop kills 35 people in southeastern Benin

24 September 2023, 10:35 AM
Ghanaians gather for the third day of anti-government protests amid police arrests and obstruction in Accra, Ghana, September 23, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko

Multi-day protests over economic crisis grip Ghana’s capital

23 September 2023, 8:08 PM
Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 20, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Request for the UN army to withdraw from DRC is politically motivated: Analyst

23 September 2023, 4:05 PM
File Image: Halime Adam Moussa, a Sudanese refugee who is seeking refuge in Chad for a second time, stands in line with other people to receive her food portion from World Food Programme (WFP), near the border between Sudan and Chad in Koufroun, Chad, May 9, 2023.

Food insecurity in Africa should be overcome in five years: AfDB

23 September 2023, 8:58 AM
Next Post
Mlambo-Ngcuka says funds are needed to eliminate gender-based violence.

Fight against GBV needs all hands on deck: Mlambo-Ngcuka

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Concern over exclusion of foreign nationals from Road Accident Fund
  • Cashless taxi service launched in Cape Town
  • ANC building up in flames in Port St Johns
  • Legal professionals raise concerns over proposed amendments to RAF 
  • Gqeberha on high-alert following disruptive weather warnings
  • High waves and rough water conditions force beach closures in the Western Cape
  • Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi to rest in the town he built and nurtured
  • NSPCA files criminal case against Julius Malema for alleged animal cruelty
  • Snow, heavy rainfall expected in parts of KZN: SAWS
  • Cold-front sweeps across SA bringing snow and chilly temperatures
  • A level two weather warning issued for southern KZN
  • Western Cape on high alert following severe storm warning
  • Stage 3 load shedding to be implemented from 8PM
  • Buffalo City residents without power due to bad weather
  • Severe weather conditions expected in Western Cape over next two days

LATEST

Militants
  • Africa

‘Gunmen kill 8, kidnap 60 in northwest Nigeria’


DA Leader John Steenhuisen wearing a floral apron, during a Heritage Day feast at Lentergeur in Mitchells Plein, captured on 24 September 2023.
  • Politics

Steenhuisen takes his Heritage Day commemoration to Mitchells Plein


Strong winds and rain illustrated.
  • South Africa

Severe weather conditions expected in Western Cape over next two days


MTN 8 Trophy.
  • Sport

Orlando Pirates to face Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 final


Prime Minister of Lesotho Sam Matekane.
  • Africa

Lesotho PM calls UN for more support for least developed countries


The MCs who facilitated book discussions on Day 1 of the Central Book Festival in Bloemfontein.
  • South Africa

Authors, publishers engage at Central Book Festival in Bloemfontein


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2023

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2023

Previous Mark Boucher Mark Boucher appointed as Cricket SA head coach
Next Fight against GBV needs all hands on deck: Mlambo-Ngcuka