Musa Hilal’s son joins militia leader in Khartoum trial

The security service arrested another son of the detained, notorious janjaweed leader sheikh Musa Hilal this week and put him on trial together with hundreds of other detainees.

Ahmed Musa is the deaf son of Hilal and he will join the 2,000 people from Hilal’s clan who have been arrested during an attack of the Rapid Support Forces on his stronghold in Misteriya. Four of his sons are now in detention.

The detainees face a trial in a military court in Khartoum which started in March. Charges laid against them may be punishable by death in case of their conviction.

The Rizeigat tribe in Darfur has issues a statement recently, accusing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of coercion. Some tribes have been forced to give false witness reports in the trial of Hilal that incriminate him concerning the events in El Sadar Tarma, they claimed.

Hilal refused to operate with the government’s disarmament campaign, after which the RSF executed plans for his arrest.

The Darfur Bar Association (DBA) has denounced the trial of Sheikh Musa Hilal. According to the Darfur lawyers, Hilal's “trial is a violation of the fair trial standards enshrined in the Sudanese Constitution and the law”. Hilal should immediately be transferred to a criminal court. “This would constitute the only guarantee for correcting the violated legal procedures.”

Military Intelligence arrests

Sudanese Military Intelligence arrested trader Abdelshakour Saleh from Deribat market in eastern Jebel Marra in South Darfur on Thursday. Traders at the scene told Radio Dabanga that MI members arrived at the market and took Abdelshakour immediately to the military garrison’s headquarters in Deribat.

A relative of Abdelshakour said that no one has been allowed to visit him so far. The family member is concerned that the trader might be subjected to torture at the headquarters of the MI.