Sudanese High Court rejects prosecution appeal in policeman murder trial

The defence team of the teenagers accused of killing a police officer in January won a small victory in the trial against the young protesters as an appeal of the Criminal Investigation Prosecution, objecting the defence’s request for an investigation report review and a medical examination of the accused, was rejected.

The defence team of Mohamed Adam, Mohamed El Fateh, and two other young protesters accused of killing a Sudanese police officer in January reported yesterday that the Sudanese High Court in Khartoum decided to cancel a request submitted by the Criminal Investigation Prosecution, which contained objections against requests of the defence, on Thursday.

This cancellation can be seen as a small victory on the side of the defence team supporting Mohamed Adam (17), nicknamed ‘Tupac’, and Mohamed El Fateh (18), nicknamed ‘El Nana’, and the others who have been detained since January 14 on suspicion of killing a high-ranking police officer.

The Criminal Investigation Committee had submitted its objection to the decisions of the trial court to allow the defence team to review the investigation report, to refer the accused to a medical examination to confirm whether they have been subjected to torture, and to allow a fifth accused to be absent from the trial.

The High Court decided to uphold the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which supported the decision of the trial court rejecting the appeal because the contested decisions do not fall within the measures that may be appealed for in accordance with the text of Article (179) of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1991.

According to the statement of the defence team, the Sudanese judiciary has taken a new turn by allowing the defence to review the investigation report after the official complaints were referred to the court.

Earlier, the trial had been postponed after an appeal was launched by the defence team challenging the prosecution and seeking to access the original investigation file and demanding the accused be presented before a medical committee for an assessment, which will likely prove their torture in detention.

It now looks like the Sudanese High Court has granted the defence team permission by accepting their appeal by rejecting that of the Criminal Investigation Committee.

Trial

Mohamed Adam, Mohamed El Fateh, and two other Protesters were detained on January 14 on charges of killing a police officer and were subsequently subjected to torture in detention, including severe beatings and electric shocks and were denied medical aid.

The detention and trial have been controversial, not only because of the torture the teenagers were subjected to but also because of inconsistencies in the police statements.