Ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and 16 others are appearing today, Tuesday, in a special court in Khartoum consisting of 3 judges for the coup against the elected government in 1989, in a case of the first of its kind that may lead to the death penalty, according to prosecutors.
The defendants are brought to trial under Article 96 of the Sudanese Criminal Code of 1983 which undermines the constitutional system, and Article 78 of the same law which is participation in the criminal act, and if Bashir is convicted under Article 96 he may face a maximum penalty of death.
The French press agency quoted one of the accused representatives in the case, Moez Hazra, as saying that they have strong evidence and evidence against the accused.
Hazrat explained that it is the first time in Sudan that a military coup was brought to trial.
The Sudanese army toppled Bashir in April 2019 following several months of popular protests, with Sudan currently in power and a transitional authority that will last for 3 years, after which general elections will be held.
In May 2019, the lawyers moved the case, and later last March the Attorney General formed a commission of inquiry into the 1989 coup, and a joint indictment commission was established.
Among the most prominent defendants in the case are representatives of Al-Bashir Ali Othman Taha and Bakri Hassan Saleh, in addition to military and civilian leaders who assumed ministerial positions and governed states during the era of the former president.
Political trial
Al-Bashir’s defense team, which is comprised of 150 attorneys, considers this trial to be a “political trial,” while these facts are statute of limitations.
Al-Bashir’s coup was the third since Sudan’s independence in 1956, after two coups by Ibrahim Abboud (1959-1964) and Jaafar Nimeiri (1969-1985).
Al-Bashir seized power from an elected government headed by Sadiq al-Mahdi, leader of the Umma Party, the most prominent Sudanese party.
Al-Bashir is also wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, ethnic cleansing and other crimes against humanity during the conflict in the western Darfur region, which lasted from 1959 to 2004.
Last December, Al-Bashir was convicted of corruption in one of the cases against him, and a ruling was issued against him in a social reform house for two years.