Sudan’s Bashir in court for graft trial
Sudan’s deposed president Omar al-Bashir, who
ruled the country for 30 years, arrived in court Monday in Khartoum for the
start of his trial on corruption charges.
Bashir, 75, was forced from power on April 11,
after months of protest against his regime and appeared before a prosecutor for
the first time on June 16.
Now detained, the general was informed by the
prosecutor’s office that 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 said Bashir arrived in a huge
military convoy.
In April, Sudan’s 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.
Protests against Bashir’s rule erupted on
December 19 after his government tripled the price of bread.
The most serious indictments facing Bashir,
who ruled the country since seizing power in a 1989 coup, have been filed by
the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC).
They include war crimes, crimes against
humanity and genocide for his role in the war in Darfur, where a rebellion
erupted in 2003.
The United Nations says the conflict has left
more than 300,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced, with hundreds of
thousands still living in miserable and impoverished camps more than a decade
and a half later.
The ICC has for years demanded that Bashir
stand trial, and has renewed its call since his fall.
In a statement issued last week, Amnesty
International warned that his graft trial should not distract from the heavier
charges he faces in The Hague.
“While this trial is a positive step towards accountability
for some of his alleged crimes, he remains wanted for heinous crimes committed
against the Sudanese people,” Amnesty’s Joan Nyanyuki said.