Bashir in jail, say relatives as Sudan activists call for change
Sources say toppled president in notorious prison
Deposed former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir has been moved to Kobar prison in Khartoum from the presidential residence, say family sources, and a prison source said he is being held under tight security in solitary confinement.
Sudan’s military ousted Bashir after weeks of mass protests that climaxed in a sit-in outside the defence ministry compound. Protests are continuing and their leaders say the unrest will not cease until the governing Transitional Military Council (TMC) hands power to a civilian-led authority.
The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), leading the revolt, has called for sweeping changes to end violent crackdowns on dissent, purge corruption and cronyism and ease an economic crisis that worsened during Bashir’s last years in power.
In initial steps to tackle corruption, the TMC ordered the central bank to review financial transfers since April 1 and to seize “suspect” funds, state news agency Suna said.
Suna said the TMC also ordered the “suspension of the transfer of ownership of any shares until further notice and for any large or suspect transfers of shares or companies to be reported” to state authorities.
Bashir, 75, had been detained under heavy guard in the presidential residence inside the compound that also houses the defence ministry, before being shunted to Kobar prison late on Tuesday, the family sources said on Wednesday.
Kobar, just north of central Khartoum adjacent to the Blue Nile River, housed thousands of political prisoners under Bashir’s repressive rule and is Sudan’s most notorious jail.
At least some political prisoners have been freed since Bashir’s overthrow, including several SPA figures.
Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf, an Islamist like Bashir, initially headed the TMC before stepping down after one day in the post. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who has engaged in impromptu dialogue with protesters in the streets of the capital, now heads the council and has promised to hold elections within two years.
The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a rebel movement in the southern states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan, announced it was ceasing all hostilities until July 31 as a “goodwill gesture” following Bashir’s overthrow.
SPLM-N leader Abdelaziz Adam al-Helew said the move was to help facilitate “the immediate and smooth handover of power to civilians” in Sudan.
The SPLM-N had sought to overthrow Bashir and is seeking autonomy for Blue Nile and South Kordofan and a redistribution of wealth and political powers in the country.
Bashir ruled Sudan with an iron fist for 30 years after seizing power in an Islamist-backed military coup.
Uganda will consider offering asylum to Bashir despite his indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC), a foreign affairs official said in Kampala on Wednesday. “Uganda would not be apologetic at all for considering an application by Bashir,” Okello Oryem, Uganda’s state minister for foreign affairs, said.
Bashir faces ICC arrest warrants over accusations of genocide and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s Darfur region during an insurgency that began in 2003 and led to the deaths of about 300,000 people. He denies the allegations.
The head of the TMC’s political committee, Omar Zain alAbideen, said on Friday the council would not extradite Bashir for trial, suggesting he could be tried in Sudan instead.
In The Hague, an ICC spokesperson declined to comment “on hypothetical situations”. ICC member states, which include Uganda, are legally obliged to hand over indictees in their territory.
Bashir has defied the ICC by visiting several member states. Diplomatic rows broke out when he went to SA in 2015 and Jordan in 2017 and both declined to arrest him for extradition.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has in the past criticised the ICC, describing it as a tool of western justice against Africans, and he once vowed to mobilise African countries to pull out of the court’ streaty.
On Tuesday, Burhan fired Sudan’s three highest-ranking prosecutors after protesters demanded an overhaul of the judiciary as a step towards civilian government.
The SPA has called for the TMC to be dissolved in favour of an interim civilian ruling council with military representatives.