Khartoum court to hand down ruling to former Sudanese ruler Omar al-Bashir
A Khartoum court will announce the verdict of ousted President Omar al-Bashir’s corruption trial today.
Bashir was removed from office in April by the military after widespread protests over Sudan’s faltering economy. The former president faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail for illegally acquiring and using foreign funds.
Delivering justice while maintaining stability is a significant challenge for Sudan’s transitional government. Many protesters want the former president and military leaders to be held accountable for the Second Sudanese Civil War, violent political repression and the 1989 coup that originally brought Bashir to power.
Indeed, the International Criminal Court has issued warrants for Bashir’s arrest so that he can face trial for war crimes committed in Sudan’s Darfur region, but the former president’s supporters demand that justice be settled within Sudan.
Today’s verdict will not end protesters’ demands for accountability—it will merely set the tone for a slew of upcoming investigations into the coup that brought Bashir to power and the wars he waged as president. Expect questions over Bashir’s fate to continue fuelling protests in Sudan, disrupting the government’s efforts to achieve security and economic stability.
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