Trial begins for ex-Sudanese dictator Bashir

KHARTOUM, Sudan — Deposed Sudanese military leader Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for 30 years, arrives in court today in Khartoum for the start of his trial on corruption charges.

The trial comes as a sovereign council is being formed, following Saturday’s signing of a transitional constitution by protest leaders and the generals who took over after Bashir’s ouster was hailed at home and abroad as a major landmark.

The 75-year-old, whose Islamist military regime ruled Sudan for 30 years, was forced from power on April 11, after months of nationwide protests.

The jailed Bashir first appeared before a prosecutor on June 16 and was informed he faced charges of “possessing foreign currency, corruption and receiving gifts illegally.”

An AFP reporter outside the Judicial and Legal Science Institute where the trial is taking place says Bashir arrived in a huge military convoy.

In April, Sudan’s transitional army ruler General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said more than $113 million worth of cash in three currencies had been seized from Bashir’s residence.

In May, the prosecutor general also said Bashir had been charged over killings during the anti-regime protests which eventually led to his ouster.

London-based rights watchdog Amnesty International has warned however that the corruption trial should not distract from the heavier indictments that have been filed against him by The Hague-based International Criminal Court. which include charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide his role in the war in Darfur, where a rebellion erupted in 2003.

— AFP