Nine civilians sentenced by Sudan military court
On Sunday, the Military Court of El Obeid, North Kordofan, sentenced nine citizens from Darfur and South Kordofan to seven years’ imprisonment. The nine were detained by Military Intelligence agents in separate incidents in May 2013. They were transferred to the military prison in El Obeid, capital of North Kordofan, in August that year, charged with “crimes against the nation and embarking on criminal enterprises”. The trial took place in January this year. “None of those convicted was detained during a rebel combat operation. Some of them were held in their villages, without carrying arms”, El Sadeg Ali Hassan, secretary-general of the Darfur Bar Association (DBA) told Radio Dabanga. “It is also significant that they belong to the Fur and the Nuba tribes.” In a joint statement issued by the DBA and the Nuba Bar Association (MBA), the lawyers demand the sentences be overturned. “The entire process of these unfair convictions constitutes a violation of the Sudanese Interim Constitution, as well as of the general principles set forth in Article IV of the Criminal Procedure Code of 1991.” “We had already raised a constitutional appeal at the Sudanese Constitutional Court against Article 185/1 of the Armed Forces Act, which permits the trial of civilians in a military court. We are now working on an appeal against the sentences of the nine citizens convicted on Sunday, on the basis that the process contradicts the requirements of justice.” Hassan stressed that the lawyers of the DBA and the NBA will exert all efforts to annul the conviction of:Farouk Yousef Kajo (27), and Ibrahim Adam Yousef Tutu (26), farmers from the area of Delling, South Kordofan;Juma Batrik Abdallah (21), and Hashim Teiman Darwa (19), cow herders of the area of Delling in South Kordofan; Amar Adam Arbab (31), merchant in Rashad, South Kordofan, and Ibrahim Eisa Abdel Bakhit (23), trader in South Sudan, both coming originally from Zalingei locality in Central Darfur;Muhyeldin Ibrahim Mohamed (22), trader in South Sudan, from Kabkabiya in North Darfur; Mubarak Ishag Suleiman (25) market vendor in Bentiu, South Sudan, and El Sadeg Abdallah Ahmed (27), from Garsila, Central Darfur. File photo: A prison cell in Sudan Related:Seven party members, 513 others detained in Sudan (18 August 2014) ‘Sudan dry season campaign includes widespread detentions’: HRs organisation (11 July 2014)Sudan’s military court frees South Kordofan ‘spy’ (23 April 2014)
On Sunday, the Military Court of El Obeid, North Kordofan, sentenced nine citizens from Darfur and South Kordofan to seven years’ imprisonment.
The nine were detained by Military Intelligence agents in separate incidents in May 2013. They were transferred to the military prison in El Obeid, capital of North Kordofan, in August that year, charged with “crimes against the nation and embarking on criminal enterprises”. The trial took place in January this year.
“None of those convicted was detained during a rebel combat operation. Some of them were held in their villages, without carrying arms”, El Sadeg Ali Hassan, secretary-general of the Darfur Bar Association (DBA) told Radio Dabanga. “It is also significant that they belong to the Fur and the Nuba tribes.”
In a joint statement issued by the DBA and the Nuba Bar Association (MBA), the lawyers demand the sentences be overturned. “The entire process of these unfair convictions constitutes a violation of the Sudanese Interim Constitution, as well as of the general principles set forth in Article IV of the Criminal Procedure Code of 1991.”
“We had already raised a constitutional appeal at the Sudanese Constitutional Court against Article 185/1 of the Armed Forces Act, which permits the trial of civilians in a military court. We are now working on an appeal against the sentences of the nine citizens convicted on Sunday, on the basis that the process contradicts the requirements of justice.”
Hassan stressed that the lawyers of the DBA and the NBA will exert all efforts to annul the conviction of:
Farouk Yousef Kajo (27), and Ibrahim Adam Yousef Tutu (26), farmers from the area of Delling, South Kordofan;
Juma Batrik Abdallah (21), and Hashim Teiman Darwa (19), cow herders of the area of Delling in South Kordofan; Amar Adam Arbab (31), merchant in Rashad, South Kordofan, and Ibrahim Eisa Abdel Bakhit (23), trader in South Sudan, both coming originally from Zalingei locality in Central Darfur;
Muhyeldin Ibrahim Mohamed (22), trader in South Sudan, from Kabkabiya in North Darfur; Mubarak Ishag Suleiman (25) market vendor in Bentiu, South Sudan, and El Sadeg Abdallah Ahmed (27), from Garsila, Central Darfur.
File photo: A prison cell in Sudan
Related:
Seven party members, 513 others detained in Sudan (18 August 2014)
‘Sudan dry season campaign includes widespread detentions’: HRs organisation (11 July 2014)
Sudan’s military court frees South Kordofan ‘spy’ (23 April 2014)
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