A Sudanese court on Tuesday charged former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and some of his allies from the preceding government with leading the 1989 revolutionary coup that began Bashir's three-decade reign
KHARTOUM (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st July, 2020) A Sudanese court on Tuesday charged former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and some of his allies from the preceding government with leading the 1989 revolutionary coup that began Bashir's three-decade reign.
Bashir seized power as a consequence of the 1989 military coup against the elected government of then-Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi. As of today, the former president has already been serving a two-year prison term on corruption charges.
"[The court charges] 28 members of the previous Salvation government with plotting a coup against lawful authorities in 1989," Judge Essam ad-Din Mohammed Ibrahim said, as quoted by Sudan's state tv.
Among the accused are Bashir, ex-Sudanese Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Saleh, former First Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha, as well as two other Bashir allies, Awad al-Jaz and Abdul Rahim Mohammed Saleh.
The judge has also rejected "the temporary release of the accused Ali al-Haj, Secretary-General of the Popular Congress Party (PCP), and Ibrahim Sanousi, the PCP head and former Bashir's aide until his overthrow."
According to the state broadcaster, the court has decided to schedule a new hearing on the case on August 11.
Bashir governed Sudan for three decades before he was toppled by a military coup in April 2019, which brought the Transitional Military Council (TMC) to power in the wake of months-long mass anti-government rallies. In May of 2019, Bashir was charged with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters who participated in the demonstrations.
Back in 2009, Bashir also became the first incumbent head of state in the country's history to be subjected to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in connection with charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during the 2003 conflict in Sudan's Darfur.
