NISS guards prevent arrest of Sudan’s former security chief

Sudan’s Public Prosecutors have called for the dismissal of the current director of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), after agents prevented police from executing an arrest and search warrant at the home of former NISS chief Salah Abdallah (aka Gosh) on Monday.

The Public Prosecutors Club said in a statement that on Monday, the NISS security agents charged with guarding the house of Gosh confronted a police force headed by a Brigadier under the supervision of the Public Prosecution, who were attempting to execute a warrant issued by the prosecution, to arrest Gosh on charges of suspicious illegal ownership of wealth, and to search his home.

According to the statement, the NISS agents justified the refusal saying that “instructions were not issued”. They then directed a vehicle mounted with a Dushka machinegun towards the vehicle of prosecutors, and threatened to fire.

The prosecutors considered the conduct a flagrant violation of the law and the sovereignty of the state.

The statement stressed the independence of the prosecution and the need to restructure the security apparatus, underlining that the orders of the Public Prosecutor’s Office do not need any other authority or approval.

The statement demanded the immediate dismissal of the current director of the NISS.

It also called for an investigation into this incident “that affects the independence of the public prosecution”.

Resigned

Gosh resigned as director-general of the NISS in April, shortly after the overthrow of the Al Bashir regime, and has since been under house arrest.

The Transitional Military Council(TMC) has pledged to bring members of the former regime to justice, and investigate charges against them. Leading Sudanese lawyers have initiated legal proceedings against the leaders of the former regime, on charges of orchestrating the military coup in 1989.

The deposed Al Bashir, who is currently in detention in Khartoum’s Kober prison, has been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. He also faces investigation on charges under Sudan’s Foreign Exchange Law and money laundering after  Sudanese authorities seized a substantial amount of cash during a search of Al Bashir’s residence in Khartoum. Amounts of $351 million, €6,7 million, £5.2 million, and SDG 5 billion ($105 million) were recovered and deposited within the vaults of the Central Bank of Sudan.

Substantial amounts of money have also been recovered from bank accounts held by Al Bashir. According to El Sudani newspaper, just one such account at a commercial bank in Khartoum, held 315 million Saudi Riyals ($84 million).

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