Sudan lawyers file new complaint against Al Bashir

A group of Sudanese lawyers have filed a complaint to the Prosecutor of Khartoum North against deposed President Omar Al Bashir, former Vice-President Ali Osman Taha, former Parliament Speaker El Fateh Ezzeldin, and members of the Sudan Scholars Association, for ordering the killing of demonstrators.

Abdelbagi Ahmed Mohamed, Alaeldin Osman, and colleagues explained in a press conference in Khartoum on Thursday that they based their complaint on a number of statements by leaders of the recently dissolved National Congress Party (NCP) during the early days of the Sudanese uprising that erupted in mid-December last year.

They pointed to Al Bashir who talked about “retribution against the demonstrators” in a meeting with police commanders. Taha spoke in a television interview about the existence of shadow battalions to quell the protests against the regime. Izzeldin said that the heads of protesters, in particular those of communists and Baathists should be cut off.

Reportedly, the Sudanese Scholars Association advised the deposed president during the uprising that according to the Maliki doctrine, a leader has the right to kill one third of his people so that the rest can live in dignity.

Already in January this year, the Darfur Bar Association called for criminal charges against Taha and Ezzeldin. It said that it had received a letter of approval from 10 MPs to file a criminal case against the two NCP leaders for “incitement of murder and criminal terrorism against defenceless Sudanese citizens”.

Al Bashir was ousted in a military coup on April 11. He was arrested and transferred to Kober Prison in Khartoum North. On May 13, he and other former government leaders were charged with incitement and involvement in the killing of demonstrators during the December uprising. Two-and-a-half months later, he was charged with illegal ownership of wealth and possession of foreign currency.

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