Sudan’s former president Omar Al Bashir was convicted on Saturday of corruption by a Khartoum court.
He was sentenced to two years in a rehabilitation facility, bringing to an end a four-month trial.
His conviction caps a year of monumental change in one of Africa’s largest countries, with Al Bashir’s 29-year regime removed last April following months of street protests that were met with deadly violence by the former president’s security forces.
The case is rooted in the discovery of nearly €700,000 (Dh2.57 million), more than $350,000 and five million Sudanese pounds at Al Bashir’s residence shortly after his removal from power on April 11.
The Sudanese Professionals’ Association, a central pillar of the protest movement that ended his time in office, welcomed yesterday’s verdict as a “moral and political conviction” against the former president and his regime.
He was charged with money laundering and illegal possession of foreign currency. His defence lawyers have maintained the money was part of a foreign donation that Al Bashir was spending on legitimate causes. They insist the cash was found at his office, not his home.
"The prerogatives of his office allow him to do that under the [interim] 2005 constitution," defence lawyer Omar Dafaa Allah told The National before the hearing. "His powers allow him to spend money outside official channels to resolve crises and shortages."
Saturday’s conviction was a quiet end to the career of a general-turned-president who came to national attention in the 1980s as a soldier who fought in the bushes and swamps of southern Sudan against anti-government rebels during a ruinous civil war that lasted more than two decades. He seized power in a 1989 military coup that toppled a freely elected but ineffective government.
Over the years, his National Salvation government promised so much but delivered so little.
It was on Al Bashir’s watch that Sudan lost a third of its territory and most of its oil wealth when the south seceded in 2011. With the oil gone, Sudan sank into its worst economic crisis in memory.
He has also overseen a dark era of oppression and corruption on a scale that had not been seen in Sudan’s modern history. Also under his rule, rebellions broke out in western Sudan and in regions south of the capital, Khartoum.
Al Bashir’s conviction and sentencing on Saturday effectively placed the Islamist leader under house arrest. His defence lawyers were uncertain as to how exactly the sentence would be served, with some suggesting he would be under house arrest at a site approved by the court or placed at a state-run rehabilitation facility.
However, Al Bashir is currently being questioned about his part in toppling the democratically elected government of prime minister Al Sadeq Al Mahdi in a 1989 military coup and his role in the shooting of protesters between December last year and his removal on April 11.
These are crimes that could, on conviction, result in capital punishment. But, given his age, the former president could instead face a significant extension of his stay in a rehabilitation facility, according to his lawyers.
Saturday’s hearing lasted a little more than an hour and took place at a judicial training centre in a Khartoum suburb, close to the city’s international airport. It was held in a makeshift courtroom amid tight security.
Scores of heavily armed troops and police, including commandos wearing ski masks, were stationed in and around the court. Al Bashir stood for over an hour in a small metal and wire defendant’s cage as the judge read the verdict.
Al Bashir faced justice at the centre rather than at a regular courthouse for security reasons. The facility is on a quiet street facing a large empty plot of land in the district of Arkaweet. Journalists allowed inside the courtroom were subjected to a thorough check and had to surrender their phones. The street outside the makeshift court was sealed off.
Al Bashir travelled to the hearing in a white SUV from Khartoum’s Kobar prison, where he has been held since his arrest in April. His vehicle was escorted by armed police and troops travelling in about 12 pickup trucks and SUVs. Many of the vehicles were fitted with heavy machineguns.
Elsewhere in Khartoum, several hundred supporters of the former president gathered, chanting slogans against the transitional government that came to office in August after a power-sharing deal between the generals who removed Al Bashir and pro-democracy groups behind the street protests.
The protests by Al Bashir’s supporters, dubbed by organisers as the “Green March,” prompted hundreds of army troops and police to seal off streets leading to the Nile-side presidential palace and the army headquarters. There were no reports of clashes.
Al Bashir’s defence lawyers walked out the courtroom in protest when the judge, Al Sadeq Abdul Rahman, referenced a case early in the rule of Al Bashir when a Sudanese man, Magdy Mahgoub, was arrested, tried and executed for the illegal possession of foreign currency. The execution created an uproar inside and outside Sudan.
The sentence was read out after the walkout.
“This is a disgraceful conviction,” defence lawyer Hashem Abu Bakr said outside the court. “We knew from the start that this was going to be a political trial. The judge has slaughtered justice and we will not recognise his ruling.”
Another defence lawyer, Ahmed Ibrahim Al Taher, said they planned to appeal against the conviction. “These are political charges designed to defame the president,” he said.
Al Bashir, whose second wife is also being investigated for corruption, was indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2009 and 2010 for crimes against humanity and genocide in the western Darfur region in the 2000s. That conflict left at least 300,000 people dead.
Sudan’s transitional authorities have said they had no intention of handing Al Bashir over to the International Criminal Court to stand trial, preferring that he faces justice at home.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
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Engine: 2.5-litre, turbocharged 5-cylinder
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The specs
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Power: Combined output 920hp
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Power: 310hp
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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Spain drain
CONVICTED
Lionel Messi Found guilty in 2016 of of using companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying €4.1m in taxes on income earned from image rights. Sentenced to 21 months in jail and fined more than €2m. But prison sentence has since been replaced by another fine of €252,000.
Javier Mascherano Accepted one-year suspended sentence in January 2016 for tax fraud after found guilty of failing to pay €1.5m in taxes for 2011 and 2012. Unlike Messi he avoided trial by admitting to tax evasion.
Angel di Maria Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain star Angel di Maria was fined and given a 16-month prison sentence for tax fraud during his time at Real Madrid. But he is unlikely to go to prison as is normal in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying sentence of less than two years.
SUSPECTED
Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid's star striker, accused of evading €14.7m in taxes, appears in court on Monday. Portuguese star faces four charges of fraud through offshore companies.
Jose Mourinho Manchester United manager accused of evading €3.3m in tax in 2011 and 2012, during time in charge at Real Madrid. But Gestifute, which represents him, says he has already settled matter with Spanish tax authorities.
Samuel Eto'o In November 2016, Spanish prosecutors sought jail sentence of 10 years and fines totalling €18m for Cameroonian, accused of failing to pay €3.9m in taxes during time at Barcelona from 2004 to 2009.
Radamel Falcao Colombian striker Falcao suspected of failing to correctly declare €7.4m of income earned from image rights between 2012 and 2013 while at Atletico Madrid. He has since paid €8.2m to Spanish tax authorities, a sum that includes interest on the original amount.
Jorge Mendes Portuguese super-agent put under official investigation last month by Spanish court investigating alleged tax evasion by Falcao, a client of his. He defended himself, telling closed-door hearing he "never" advised players in tax matters.
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
