KHARTOUM (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th November, 2020) Former Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour could be executed or sentenced to life imprisonment over his involvement in the formation of military opposition against the country's transitional authorities, a senior source in the Sudanese general prosecutor's office told Sputnik.
Ghandour served as the foreign minister from 2015-2018, and, according to media reports, he played a decisive role in the negotiations held in October 2017 to lift US sanctions imposed on Khartoum. He was subsequently dismissed from his post by an order of then-President Omar Bashir in the wake of his announcement to the parliament that Sudanese diplomats staying abroad had been unpaid for several months.
The ex-minister was arrested in June 2020, with no official explanations as to his case. Some news outlets reported meanwhile that Ghandour's detention came in connection with suspicion of his involvement in planning "sabotage operations."
"Ex-Foreign Minister Ghandour ... and nine others [former members of the country's leadership] have faced charges on which they could be sentenced to death or life imprisonment for attempting to use force against the transitional authorities. [The accusations include, in particular,] an appeal for forceful measures against the current authorities and an attempt of coup d'etat," the source said.
Among those accused is Anas Omar, the head of the dissolved National Congress Party, which dominated domestic politics in the Khartoum provincei of Sudan, .
"Throughout the investigation, some defendants confessed to trying to initiate terrorist attacks and blasts at a number of sites in Khartoum on June 30, when mass protests took place in the capital and several provinces," the source added.
In June, Sudan saw mass protests erupt, with demonstrators demanding reforms and justice while marking the anniversary of a deadly police crackdown on a peaceful sit-in protest in the Sudanese capital on June 30, 2019.
In late August 2019, Sudan established the Sovereign Council, officially dissolving the Transitional Military Council, which came to power after former President Omar Bashir was overthrown in April. Abdallah Hamdok was appointed as prime minister and head of the transitional government.
