Sudanese court found former President Omar al-Bashir with crimes money laundering and corruption, and sentenced to serve two years in prison.
This is the first decision was decided in a series of court charges against al-Bashir, who Criminal Court ICC World sought on war crimes and genocide in connection with the violence that occurred in Darfur in 2000.
The decision comes a year after protesters in Sudan began revolting against al-Bashir’s government. After more than 30 years in power, Sudan has been listed by the United States as a sponsor of international terrorism, and the country’s economy has been decayed for years due to inadequate operations. and US sanctions against the country.
Al-Bashir has been in custody since April, when the army overthrew his government following months of protests across the country. Gradual conflicts and instability forced the treaty of government between the military and civilian.
The trial for corruption of ousted president Omar El-Bashir, in power for three decades, opened on Monday in Sudan, where the process of transition to civilian power is still awaiting its first concrete act with the appointment of members of the sovereign council.
The former head of state, deposed by the army on April 11 in response to mass protests, arrived in the morning before a court in Khartoum, escorted by an imposing military convoy, found an AFP journalist. .
Omar El-Béchir, 75, detained in a Khartoum prison, was informed by the prosecution that he was facing charges of “possession of foreign currency, corruption” and trading in influence.
The trial of the former president was to begin on Saturday, the day of the signing of a historic transition agreement between the Military Council in power since April and the dispute. But it had been postponed indefinitely.
Brigadier Ahmed Ali, the investigative officer, told the court that Mr. Béchir had received $ 90 million from the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In late April, the head of the Transitional Military Council, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhane, said that the equivalent of more than $ 113 million had been seized in cash from the ex-president’s residence in Khartoum.
In May, the attorney general also said that Mr. Bashir had been charged with murders during anti-regime protests that led to his ouster, without knowing when he will be charged with the charge.
International arrest warrants
Amnesty International warned last week that his corruption trial should not distract from the heavier charges he faces in The Hague.
Mr. Béchir, who ruled the country with an iron fist after an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, is the subject of international arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes of war, crimes against humanity and genocide during the war in Darfur, where a rebellion broke out in 2003.
The UN says the conflict has left more than 300,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced, and that hundreds of thousands of people still live in miserable and impoverished camps more than a decade and a half later.
The ICC has demanded for years that Omar El-Béchir be tried and has renewed his appeal since his fall.
Amnesty International has called on new transitional institutions in Sudan to ratify the Rome Statute of the ICC
, which would transfer Mr. Béchir to this international tribunal.
Protests against the former president’s regime erupted on December 19 after his government tripled the price of bread.
They continued after its fall in April, in order to obtain a transfer of power to civilians, and they resulted on Saturday in the signing of an agreement between the generals in power and the dispute.
Historic agreement
Thousands of Sudanese have celebrated this historic agreement, but the expected appointment Sunday of the Sovereign Council supposed to lead this transition has been delayed, one of the five people chosen by the protest movement having declined the offer.
The full composition is now scheduled for Monday.
The Sovereign Council is to be made up of six civilians and five soldiers and will first be headed for 21 months by a general, then by a civilian for the remaining 18 months. He will oversee the formation of a transitional civil administration, including the government.
The official signing ceremony on Saturday took place in the presence of many foreign dignitaries, a sign that Sudan could turn the page on its isolation under the Bashir regime.
But, despite the euphoria surrounding the transition agreement, reservations persist within the dispute.
The omnipresence in the transition process of General Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, number two of the Military Council, is notably questioned. He also co-signed the agreement on Saturday.
The dreaded paramilitary of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mr. Daglo are accused of having suppressed several demonstrations. Many fear that it will then try to grab power and kill the democratic process in the bud.
Women, who played a crucial role in the protests, also denounce the low proportion of women represented in the transitional institutions.
It also remains to define how the new institutions intend to pacify a country bruised by several conflicts, in the regions of Darfur, the Blue Nile and Kordofan.
