20 alleged Darfur rebels collaborators sentenced to death in Nyala

The Nyala General Court issued death sentences against 20 people accused of committing crimes of rebellion against the state, armed robbery, terrorism, murder, and banditry. Nine of the convicts are alleged members of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and another ten are members of the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM), according to the prosecutor.Counselor Abdel Moneim Osman, Director of Public Prosecutions in South Darfur, said that the ten LJM rebels were found guilty of ambushing a trade convoy between the areas of Yasin and Sania Afandu, east of Nyala last year.

The Liberation and Justice Movement, which is negotiating with the government now in Doha, condemned the government, calling the trial politically motivated and blackmail. The chief negotiator of the movement, Tajaddin Niam, said that the movement will undertake all means — including a halt to negotiations — to address this situation. He told Radio Dabanga from Doha that the verdict is a clear violation of the cease-fire agreement. He said that UNAMID has responsibility for what happens, since it was part of the implementation mechanisms of the agreement. Tajaddin Niam said the rebel group would raise the matter to the mediation and the United Nations.

Counselor Abdel Moneim Osman further said that the court sentenced a man named Ali Hassan Zambaki, finding him guilty of responsibility in an outbreak of violence at Kalma Camp which claimed the lives of 53 people.

Another nine (9) persons accused of belonging to the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) were sentenced to death. They are also found guilty of attacking a trade convoy in the area of Sania Afando east of Nyala, causing the death of 51 members of Central Reserve forces, including a colonel, besides dozens of wounded this year in May.

Abdel Moneim said the court also sentenced three juvenile defendants to one year imprisonment and two years at the reformatory.