Sudan judge orders criminal case against Kober prison director in trial of tortured detainees

The Khartoum court dealing with the case against three young protesters, accused of killing a police officer during anti-junta demonstrations in January, instructed the filing of a criminal case against the director of Kober Prison for violating the law and ignoring court orders yesterday.

During the trial session in the Judicial Science Hall in Khartoum yesterday, court judge Zuheir Abdelrazeg also ordered the transfer of the main suspect, Mohamed Adam, better known by his nickname Tupac, from Kober Prison to another prison in the city.

During the previous court session, one week ago, Adam was brought in with a bleeding lip and other signs of beating. When the judge ordered his handcuffs removed, the police guards said they forgot the keys.

The court then adjourned the session and instructed the Kober Prison administration to clarify the circumstances of Adam’s injuries and the reasons for keeping him in isolation. The court also ordered him to be moved to another prison. The prison management did not respond to the demands.

The judge accused Kober Prison Director Maj El Tayeb Omar El Amin of violating the law and ignoring court orders yesterday and repeated his order to transfer Adam.

The judge also referred to his previous (ignored) order on November 14 to put Adam in the same cell where Mohamed El Fateh and Ahmed El Fateh are being held, because they are facing the same charges.

Defence team lawyer Eman Hasan told Radio Dabanga that the court now instructed the formation of separate defence teams for the accused.

She and three other lawyers will represent Adam, while lawyer Adam Bakri and his team will defend Mohamed El Fateh. The third accused Ahmed El Fateh will also be represented by three lawyers.

Hasan said that Adam’s life may be in danger as he told them that he was threatened by police officers inside Kober Prison because he allegedly killed their colleague. She added that the judge did not specify the prison he is to be transferred to.

Trial history

Adam, Mohamed El Fateh, Musab El Shareef, and Ahmed El Fateh 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 trial officially started in May but was postponed in June, when the protesters’ poor treatment inside Kober Prison sparked controversy, not only because of the torture the teenagers were subjected to but also because of inconsistencies in the police statements.

The authorities hold them responsible for the killing of Brig Bereima during the protests. Various Sudanese, however, reported on social media that Brig Ali Bereima was killed a week before. Others tweeted that the police officer was killed in the early morning of January 13, while the demonstrations started much later that day.

Lawyers also pointed to inconsistencies in the police statements issued on two consecutive days

In January, Eman Hasan told Radio Dabanga that the two detainees were questioned about the sources of funding behind the protests and about members of resistance committees, but not about the police brigadier they were accused of stabbing to death.

Adam’s lawyers and rights groups say that is where he was tortured and interrogated about the protest movement for three weeks, before eventually giving a false confession. He was suspended from his feet. He was subjected to continuous beatings, and he was deprived of water. The plaster was removed from his broken leg without medical supervision.