Sudan’s former president Omar al-Bashir, who was overthrown last year by the military in the face of massive protests against his government, was tried in the capital for his role in a coup that brought him to power more than 30 years ago. years.
Al-Bashir who has been imprisoned in Khartoum since his expulsion, faces charges of undermining the constitution, violating the Armed Forces Law and fomenting a 1989 coup against the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.
Before statements or evidence could be released Tuesday, the trial was adjourned until August 11 to reconvene in a larger court to allow more lawyers and family members of the accused to attend.
Some lawyers complained that their colleagues had been unable to enter Tuesday’s session.
Other defendants include 10 military and six civilians, including their former vice presidents Ali Osman Taha and Bakri Hassan Saleh, as well as former ministers and governors.
They are all accused of having planned the coup of June 30, 1989, during which the army arrested Sudan’s political leaders, suspended Parliament and other state agencies, closed the airport and announced the coup on the radio.
The man nicknamed the true mastermind behind the military coup, Hassan al-Turabi of the Islamic National Front, died in 2016.
Al-Bashir remained in power for almost 30 years before being ousted on April 11 last year after several months of unprecedented pro-democratic demonstrations that eventually forced the creation of a “sovereign council” of joint civilian and military government.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is also seeking the 76-year-old woman, who is facing charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity for atrocities by pro-government forces in Darfur. Sudan’s new government officials, who are tasked with bringing the country to elections under a 39-month power-sharing agreement, have yet to hand her over to the ICC for prosecution.
Al-Bashir is also under investigation for the killing of protesters, while a Sudanese court handed him a first two-year sentence on corruption charges in December.
First coup
Before Tuesday’s trial, Moaz Hadra, one of the lawyers who led the attempt to bring the case to court, Al-Bashir and Saleh said “they have fully refused to cooperate with the commission of inquiry, but will be present in court.”
Hadra told the AFP news agency that the defendants are charged with crimes including Chapter 96 of the 1983 Penal Code, which had been abolished by al-Bashir, and which carries the death penalty for trying to destroy the constitutional order.
The lawyer said “this is the first time that someone who launches a coup will be brought to justice” in Sudan, which has seen three coups since its independence from Britain in 1956.
“This trial will be a warning to anyone trying to destroy the constitutional system,” he added. “This will safeguard Sudanese democracy. In this way, we hope to end the era of coups in Sudan.”
One of the 150 defense lawyers, Hashem al-Gali, accused Bashir and the others of facing “a political trial” that will take place “in a hostile environment by the judicial system against the accused.”
“In fact, this trial is directed at the Islamic movement, and its sole purpose is to present it as a terrorist movement, but we have prepared our defense and we will demonstrate otherwise,” Gali said.
He argued that al-Bashir’s overthrow of Mahdi took place so long ago that it was beyond the statute of limitations and should therefore no longer be dealt with by a court.
The trial is taking place at a time when Sudan’s joint civilian and military transition government is introducing a series of reforms and has relaunched peace talks with rebel groups.
Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s administration recently abolished rules restricting women’s freedom of movement, banned the practice of female genital mutilation, removed a law against apostasy and relaxed the alcohol ban.
Sudan hopes that he will soon be removed from the US State Department’s list of state sponsors of “terrorism”, a major obstacle to receiving foreign aid and investment.
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