Hamdok (left) and civil and political leaders accused by the Sudanese Public Prosecution of “provoking war against the state” (Coordination of Civilian Democratic Forces)

The Public Prosecution in Sudan filed criminal reports against 40 leaders of the Freedom and Change Coalition and the Civil Forces Alliance “Taqaddam” on charges related to provoking war against the state, undermining the constitutional system, stirring up discontent among the regular forces, and war crimes against property and other rights and against humanity, the penalty for which is up to death.

The prosecution took action based on a complaint from the National Committee for War Crimes and Violations of the Rapid Support Forces, which was recently formed to monitor and count the violations committed against the backdrop of the war that broke out between the army and these forces. However, the wanted list did not include military personnel, but rather the leaders of political parties and organizations that the Sudanese security authorities accuse of being loyal to the Rapid Support Forces. .

According to observers, the leaders of “Taqadum” strengthened the supportive trend by considering them a political back for Rapid Support by signing an agreement with the Forces Commander, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti,” in Addis Ababa about two months ago.

Lieutenant General Yasser Al-Atta, a member of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, directs the Attorney General and the Ministry of Justice to expedite the opening of reports against those he called agents and traitors and all those who accused the Sudanese people, their military institution, the Sudanese police, the intelligence service, or the operations authority. pic.twitter.com/nenl0OoNIb

- Khalid Ali Khalid Ali (Al-Aleisir) (@Aleisir) March 29, 2024

Lists

But Taqadum leaders defend that the request for a meeting at the time included both sides of the war to convince them of the necessity of stopping the fighting, and that Hemedti was quick to respond to them, while Army Commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan refrained from attending and responding to the coalition’s calls.

The first list of those wanted before the prosecution included 17 leaders, led by the former Prime Minister and Head of the Civil Forces Coordination “Taqaddum” Abdullah Hamdok, the Secretary-General of the Umma Party, Al-Wathiq Al-Birir, along with the head of the Popular Movement, Yasser Arman, the head of the Executive Office of the Federal Assembly, Babiker Faisal, the head of the Sudanese Congress Party, Omar Al-Dagir, and others. The decision required them to surrender themselves to the nearest police station.

Later yesterday, Thursday, the prosecution announced a new list of 23 wanted persons, including two cadres affiliated with the Rapid Support, who were known for their media activity in support of the war: Abdel Moneim Al-Rabie and Ibrahim Bakkal.

The new list also included the head of the Umma Party, Fadlallah Barma Nasser, the head of the Arab Baath Party, Ali Al-Rih Al-Sanhouri, the head of the Sudan Liberation Movement - Transitional Council, Al-Hadi Idris, and others, most of whom belonged to and supported the Freedom and Change Alliance.

Jurist and politician Naji Mustafa Badawi explains to Al Jazeera Net that the National Committee for War Crimes and Rapid Support Violations is neither judicial nor representative, and its mission is only to limit and submit cases to the Public Prosecution, which wrote reports based on this complaint.

The step comes - according to Mustafa - in the wake of the statements made by the leaders of the “Popular Resistance” in response to the speech of Lieutenant General Shams al-Din Kabbashi calling for organizing the work of the resistance, as they warned that the presence of the leaders of Freedom and Change in the joints of the state hinders the army’s victories and obstructs legal procedures.

This was supported, according to the spokesman, by the statement of the Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Army, General Yasser Al-Atta, this week when he spoke about the fact that the prosecution and judicial agencies have “Janjaweed” (rapid support) and agents who obstruct the judicial system.

Valueless

Naji Mustafa describes the Public Prosecution’s decisions as an “incomplete and unacceptable reaction” and does not reflect the correct legal procedure, as it is assumed - in his opinion - to issue a publication announcement and address the International Interpol Presidency in Tunisia to issue a red notice and arrest the wanted persons and bring them to trial. Without that, the prosecution is active in its work. A worthless politician, as he put it.

He added, "Merely opening a report is throwing ash in the eyes and manipulating feelings." He also sees it as an attempt by the prosecution to yield to popular pressure against the Forces of Freedom and Change.

In turn, the head of the Executive Office of the Federal Assembly, Babiker Faisal, belittles the prosecution’s decisions, and assures Al Jazeera Net that they are worthless and aim to block the way for the Taqadum leaders’ related efforts to stop the war. He says, “These are decisions made by the remnants who started the war and are calling for its continuation.”

In September 2023, Public Prosecutor Khalifa Ahmed Khalifa issued an arrest warrant for 250 politicians, journalists, and activists on charges of cooperating with the Rapid Support Forces.

The prosecutor, who also heads the committee investigating war crimes and violations of the Rapid Support, said that the committee is working on procedures related to the recovery of the leaders of the Rapid Support and its collaborators who are outside Sudan, in coordination with Interpol.

On November 30, 2023, the same committee issued arrest warrants for 19 Rapid Support leaders, led by its leader, Hemedti, and his brother, Abdel Rahim Dagalo, in Criminal Case No. 8798, under claims related to undermining the constitutional order, provoking war against the state, and other charges.

From the point of view of Taqadum coalition spokesman Bakri Al-Jak, the prosecution’s move indicates a state of confusion and a lack of clarity in the vision of the de facto authority to empty the political space of any democratic and revolutionary forces so that the National Congress and the Islamists can shape the future of the country according to their perceptions of a corrupt totalitarian rule, which is a political goal. first and last.

Al-Jak told Al-Jazeera Net that the decisions - from a legal standpoint - are not based on any reference to target civilian forces that do not carry weapons and are not part of the fighting.

Political consumption

The spokesman for the “Taqaddum” coalition continues: “What is worse and worse is the accusation of undermining the constitutional system by the perpetrators of the October 25 coup and those who disrupted the constitutional document.”

The speaker wonders about the rationale behind opening a report to individuals whose only action is to seek an end to the war, and he believes that the arrest warrant is “mere political consumption” and a flood of public space at a time when the “Taqaddam” coordination held the first meeting of its leadership body and took important historical decisions.

In his interview with Al Jazeera Net, political analyst Othman Fadlallah agrees with the point of view that the prosecution’s decisions are worthless and that they are merely media material for consumption and do not contain evidence that allows building a coherent accusation case.

He points out that these procedures are in line with what the previous regime used to use the law in political work, as many politicians were charged with the same charges, some of which reached the courts and in which rulings were issued, such as the famous case in which the current Vice-President of the Sovereignty Council, Malik Aqar, and 17 of his employees were tried. People's Movement death penalty.

He added, "This is what makes such accusations mere rhetoric (mere talk) with no legal or political impact."

The analyst believes that the measure confirms that the goal of the war is to demonize the civilian forces that revolted against the previous regime, especially since those accused by members of the Rapid Support do not exceed the fingers of one hand, while the lists of accused civilian forces amounted to more than 30 leaders.

He wondered: “How is it right to bring charges against this number of civilian politicians while the Rapid Support leaders who are leading the battles on the ground have not been charged, unless the matter is related to the political conflict and healing of those who led the December revolution that overthrew the previous regime in 2019?” .

Source: Al Jazeera