Sudan’s Hemedti to testify in Bashir’s trial of killing protesters

KHARTOUM, Sudan

A Sudanese court has summoned the deputy leader of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, for testimony in the trial of former President Omar al-Bashir, according to a defense lawyer.

“Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, was ordered by Khartoum court to give testimony in the case,” Wail Ali Saeed told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.

Bashir faces accusations of killing protesters during mass protests that swept him from power in April 2019.

“We believe that Hemedti was close to the security institution in the country and know a lot about the killing of protesters during Bashir’s era,” Ali said.

Dozens of protesters were killed by security forces during the protests that ended al-Bashir’s three-decade rule in Sudan.

Al-Bashir also faces charges of orchestrating the military coup in which he took power in 1989.

Sudan has been in turmoil since last year, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government, a move decried by political forces as a "military coup."

More than 100 people have been killed in protests against the military since then, according to Sudanese medics.