Court Jails Ex- Sudanese President, Omar Al Bashir Over Corruption

Sudan former President Omar al-Bashir has been sentenced to two years in detention in a state-run reform centre over financial irregularity and corruption charges in the first of several cases against the leader who was removed after nearly 30 years in power.

A court in the capital Khartoum on Saturday convicted al-Bashir, who was overthrown in April after months of nationwide demonstrations, on charges of illegal possession of foreign currency, illicit financial gains, and corruption.

“The court convicted Omar Hassan al-Bashir,” judge Al-Sadiq Abdelrahman said. “The court decided to send him to a community reform centre for two years.”

The judge said that “under the law, those who reached the age of 70 shall not serve jail terms.”

Bashir, 75, 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 removal, the judge said.

Saturday’s case against the 75-year-old centred around suitcases filled with multiple currencies worth more than $130m which were found in his home.

While the former president admitted he had received $25m from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), he pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Dressed in traditional white robes and turban, al-Bashir watched silently from inside a metal defendant’s cage while the judge read out the verdict on Saturday.

Before the verdict was read, supporters of al-Bashir briefly disrupted the proceedings and were pushed out of the courtroom by the security forces.

AL-JAZEERA