Sudan's Former Ruler Omar Al-Bashir Now in Prison
As Sudanese protesters continue to throng the streets demanding the removal of all former regime heads from positions of power in the government, the country’s former ruler Omar Al-Bashir has been sent to a prison in the country's capital Khartoum.
Mumbai, April 18: As Sudanese protesters continue to throng the streets demanding the removal of all former regime heads from positions of power in the government, the country’s former ruler Omar Al-Bashir has been sent to a prison in the country's capital Khartoum.
"Last night, Bashir was transferred to Kober prison in Khartoum," according to a source quoted in an AFP report. This was confirmed by a soldier manning the prison who saw the country’s former ruler being escorted into the prison by army officers. Bashir was ousted by the Sudanese Army after four months of intense protests against his three decade rule of the country.
Bashir’s brothers too have been arrested as part of a crackdown against "symbols and leaders of the previous regime". Shams al-Din Kabashi, spokesman for the transitional military council, said on Wednesday that Abdullah al-Bashir and Alabas al-Bashir had been taken into custody.
The transitional military council has promised to put the country’s former leader to trial in Sudan for a range of charges including human rights abuses.
Despite these arrests, the people of Sudan have continued their protests as they want a civilian government in power to oversee the transition from Bashir’s regime to a democratic government. However, the military has said that it will head the transition for two years which has not been accepted by Sudanese protesters.
The pressure from protesters has seen the military council remove the country's three top ranking public prosecutors, and the intelligence chief from Bashir’s regime. It has also invited political parties to decide on the name of a civilian prime minister, but said it would not give up the interior and defence ministries portfolio, according to Aljazeera.
Sudanese protesters have received a boost from the African Union as it has called for the military council to transfer power to a civilian-led body within the next two weeks or risk Sudan being suspended from the grouping. This call has been reiterated by the EU and the UN.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 18, 2019 06:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).