Sudan sentences 27 to death for torturing, killing protester

CAIRO — A Sudanese court sentences 27 members of the country’s security forces to death for torturing and killing a detained protester during the uprising against longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir earlier this year.

The death of protester Ahmed al-Khair, a school teacher, while in detention in February was a key point — and a symbol — in the uprising that eventually led to the military’s ouster of al-Bashir. Monday’s convictions and sentences, which can be appealed, were the first connected to the killings of protesters in the revolt.

Last December, the first rally was held in Sudan to protest the soaring cost of bread and the dire economic conditions, marking the beginning of a pro-democracy movement that convulsed the large African country. That led, in April, to the toppling of al-Bashir, and ultimately to the creation of a joint military-civilian Sovereign Council that has committed to rebuilding the country and promises elections in three years.

Monday’s verdict in the trial of the security forces took place in a court in Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city, where hundreds of protesters, including many from the eastern province of Kassala, al-Khair’s hometown, had gathered outside the courtroom and elsewhere in the city, demanding justice for the slain teacher. Footage circulating online shows the protesters cheering after the verdict was announced. “Blood for blood, we do not accept blood money,” many chanted.

Al-Khair was detained on January 31 in Kassala and was reported dead two days later. His body was taken to a local hospital where his family said it was covered in bruises. At the time, police denied any wrongdoing and blamed his death on an “illness,” without providing any details.

Judge al-Sadik al-Amin al-Fek, however, says today that the teacher was beaten and tortured while in detention. “His death was an inevitable consequence of the beating and torture,” he says.

— AP