Ex-Sudan leader faces charges over deaths of protesters

Khartoum

A group of lawyers presented a request Wednesday to the attorney general to summon the deputy chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council to give testimony regarding ousted President Omar al-Bashir’s involvement in the killing of protesters earlier this year.

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, who is regarded as Sudan's de facto ruler, had said in earlier testimony that Bashir had ordered the killing of protesters in front of army headquarters in April, Shima Taj Alsir, a member of the Sudanese lawyers of the Democratic Front, which opened the case, told Anadolu Agency.

“We have presented a request in front of the attorney general to summon the Deputy Chairman of the Sudanese Sovereign Council and the leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, to give testimony regarding the involvement of Bashir himself in the killing of the protesters,” she stressed.

The RSF is a paramilitary force that has been accused of a myriad of human rights abuses in the western province of Darfur and elsewhere.

Hemedti said his forces had stopped the security organs that were ordered to kill the protesters by Bashir.

Alsir added that a case has also been opened against former First Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, former chairman of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) Ahmed Haroun and former Parliament Speaker El Fateh Ezzeldin.

A Sudanese court will give its final verdict on Dec. 14 on Bashir’s corruption case regarding the €7 million (around $7.8 million) found in his home in April.

Khartoum

The RSF is a paramilitary force that has been accused of a myriad of human rights abuses in the western province of Darfur and elsewhere.

Hemedti said his forces had stopped the security organs that were ordered to kill the protesters by Bashir.

A Sudanese court will give its final verdict on Dec. 14 on Bashir’s corruption case regarding the €7 million (around $7.8 million) found in his home in April.