Sudan sentences 29 agents to death
A Sudanese court yesterday sentenced 29 intelligence agents to death for torturing and killing a protester early this year, an AFP correspondent said. It is the first time members of the security forces have been condemned to death in relation to the killing of protesters. The defendants were found guilty of torturing to death teacher Ahmed al-Kheir Awadh at an intelligence services facility and sentenced to be hanged, judge Sadok Albdelrahman said.
ASudanese court sentenced 29 members of the national intelligence service to death by hanging yesterday over the killing of a teacher in detention in February during protests that led to the overthrow of former president Omar al-Bashir.
The group that spearheaded the protests welcomed the ruling, the first to deliver sentences over crackdowns on demonstrations in the months before and after Bashir was toppled in April.
Prosecuting members of the intelligence services is seen as a test of how far Sudan’s transitional government will go to erase Bashir’s legacy and challenge the security apparatus.
“This day is a victory for justice, a victory for all Sudanese and a victory for the revolution,” teacher Ahmed al-Khair’s brother Saad told reporters after the verdict.
Thirteen defendants were sentenced to prison terms and a further four were acquitted in the ruling, which could face several stages of appeal. The judge listed 27 agents from Kassala, capital of eastern Kassala state, who received death sentences.
Another two agents from Khashm al-Qirba, the town in Kassala state where teacher Khair was killed, were also sentenced to death, a lawyer said. Khair’s death became a rallying point during 16 weeks of protests against Bashir’s rule. His family said security officials initially claimed he had died of poisoning, though days later a state investigation found he had died of injuries from beating.
Hundreds of people rallied outside the court in Omdurman where the verdict was delivered yesterday, some waving national flags or holding pictures of Khair.
They broke into celebration after the ruling.