{"id":54868,"date":"2019-12-16T09:22:53","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T01:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=54868"},"modified":"2019-12-16T09:22:55","modified_gmt":"2019-12-16T01:22:55","slug":"sudan-ousted-pres-bashir-gets-two-years-detention-for-corruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=54868","title":{"rendered":"Sudan: Ousted Pres Bashir gets two years\u2019 detention for corruption"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

KHARTOUM, Dec 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Sudan\u2019s former president Omar al-Bashir was sentenced to two years\u2019 detention in a correctional centre for
corruption in the first of several cases against the ousted autocrat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The charges stemmed from millions of dollars received by the toppled
strongman from Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement, the prosector general confirmed Bashir was
also being investigated for \u201ckillings and crimes against humanity in Darfur,
South Kordofan and Blue Nile\u201d, Sudanese states all hit by major armed
conflict since the turn of the century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prosecutor also noted the ex-president was being investigated for his
role in the coup that brought him to power in 1989 and said that the
punishment for some of his alleged crimes is death by hanging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bashir, who was deposed by the army in April after months of mass protests against his iron-fisted rule, appeared in court in a metal cage wearing a traditional white jalabiya and turban for the verdict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was convicted of \u201ccorruption\u201d and \u201cpossession of foreign currency\u201d,
judge Al Sadiq Abdelrahman said, charges which can carry a prison sentence of up to 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead the court, taking into account his age, ordered the 75-year-old to
serve two years in a correctional centre for the elderly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnder the law, those who reached the age of 70 shall not serve jail
terms,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the prosecutor general said in his statement he was calling for that
law to be changed to allow jail time for people aged over 70. His statement
also announced corruption probes of Bashir and regime associates involving \u201cbillions of dollars\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bashir will serve his sentence after the verdict has been reached in
another case in which he is accused of ordering the killing of demonstrators
during the protests that led to his ouster, the judge said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court also ordered the confiscation of 6.9 million euros, $351,770 and
5.7 million Sudanese pounds ($128,000) found at Bashir\u2019s home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sudanese Professionals Association \u2014 the group that initially led
protests against Bashir \u2014 welcomed the verdict on Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not over for Bashir \u2014 there are other cases\u201d to answer, it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ex-president will appeal the verdict, said one of his lawyers, Ahmed
Ibrahim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside the court, several dozen Bashir supporters gathered chanting:
\u201cThere is no god but God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds more holding banners calling for the fall of the government
marched in central Khartoum where there was a heavy security presence, before dispersing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sudan is now ruled by a joint civilian and military sovereign council,
which is tasked with overseeing a transition to civilian rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authorities announced Saturday the dissolution of professional
organisations put in place under Bashir \u2014 one of the demands of the protest movement that unseated him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bashir admitted to having received a total of $90 million from Saudi
leaders and the trial centred on the $25 million received from the kingdom\u2019s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bashir said the money seized from his home came out of the $25 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The funds, he said, formed part of Sudan\u2019s strategic relations with Saudi
Arabia and were \u201cnot used for private interests but as donations\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trial does not relate to charges Bashir faces at the International
Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bashir has been wanted by the ICC for years for his role in the Darfur war
that broke out in 2003, when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against his Arab-dominated government which they accused of marginalising the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Darfur conflict left around 300,000 people dead and 2.5 million
displaced, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Bashir was toppled, ICC prosecutors requested he stand trial for the
killings in Darfur. — NNN-AGENCIES
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KHARTOUM, Dec 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Sudan\u2019s former president Omar al-Bashir was sentenced to two years\u2019 detention in a correctional centre forcorruption in the first of several cases against the ousted autocrat. The charges stemmed from millions of dollars received by the toppledstrongman from Saudi Arabia. In a statement, the prosector general confirmed Bashir wasalso being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[213],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54868"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54868\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}