Sudanese judiciary rejects a request to withdraw the recognition of Bashir to receive money from Saudi Arabia

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's judiciary on Saturday rejected a request by the defense team of ousted President Omar al-Bashir to re-question him and withdraw his earlier confessions of receiving money in person from a foreign country, Saudi Arabia.

This came during the deliberations of the fifth session of the trial of al-Bashir amid tight security, at the Institute of Judicial and Legal Sciences, east of Khartoum.

Last Saturday, the defense appealed for a redraft of the indictment and judicial recognition of Bashir, accusing the judges who had taken the judicial confirmation from their client of belonging to a political party (did not specify), "and this is contrary to the independence of the judiciary.

The court's judge, Sadiq Abdul Rahman al-Faki, said in a hearing on Saturday that the defense's request does not flaw the judicial confirmation, considering that the evidence in the charges against Bashir has been available before the court.

The judge ordered to continue the trial and hear the witnesses, saying that the charges against Bashir related to the legality of receiving money illegally, which he acknowledged and came in his tongue about receiving money from Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

At the end of August, Bashir admitted during his interrogation that he received $ 25 million from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in person, and refused to deposit it in the "Bank of Sudan" (the Central Bank) so as not to disclose the name of the latter.

In August, al-Bashir was charged with illegal possession and use of foreign exchange, charges of up to 10 years' imprisonment.

Judicial sources said at the end of last month that authorities had confiscated 6.9 million euros, 351,770 dollars and 5.7 million Sudanese pounds (about 128,000 dollars) from Bashir's house "illegally acquired and used."

But Bashir said at the time that the confiscated money was the remaining $ 25 million he received from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He said the money was part of Sudan's strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia, "and has not been used for any special interests but as donations."

Later, Bashir's defense team, witness Hatem Hassan Bakhit, the isolated director of the president's office, presented his testimony. The highest prosecutor Yasser Bashir objected to the appearance of Hatem witness in court, saying that he is "accused" in the same case.

For his part, the defense of Omar al-Bashir revealed that Bakheet was threatened in the event of his presence in court, without clarifying the type of threat or who is behind it.

The defense lawyer, Hashim Abu Bakr al-Ja'ali, said that the witness is not currently charged in court, so his testimony can be heard. After several deliberations, the judge decided to hear Bakhit's testimony.

In the third week of January 2018, Bakheet said he received a letter from Mohammed bin Salman through a delegation of three Saudis who met him at the airport, and handed him a suitcase in euros worth $ 25 million.

He added that "Bashir dealt with the matter normally, and when I briefed him on the subject of the bag, saying: Good, and went to pray Maghrib."