The running saga of the Trial of the former defunct National Congress Party elements is Boring at best and represents Anti Revolution at its Worst
الملحمة الجارية لمحاكمة عناصر نظام المؤتمر الوطنى البائد السابق مملة فى احسن الاحوال و تمثل الثورة المضادة فى أسوأ حالاتها
By Mahmoud A. Suleiman
This article comes against the backdrop of following the facts of hearing to the Trial of the perpetrators of the June the 30th 1989 Coup d’etat in Sudan. Moreover, those trial came throwing lights as how farce the Sudanese Judiciary which represents a Counter-Revolution against the Glorious Popular Revolution that broke out on the Eighteenth of December 2019. That was the Revolution in which all the components of the Sudanese people participated. The Sudanese people from all walks of life, from cities, towns, villages, countryside and from all parts of the country participated selflessly. Let alone the sacrifices that have been made by the young men and women of all ages.
It was more appropriate for the Sudanese Judiciary topersecute those accused of War crimes, Crimes against humanity and crimes of Genocide and handing over the perpetrators of those heinous crimes to the International Criminal Court in The Hague in the Netherlands; and at the top of the list of the perpetrators is the head of the former defunct National Congress Party (NCP) regime, Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir and his criminal entourage.
As we recall that the current Trial is a Continuation of a previously Postponed trial of the Former President of the ousted National Congress Party (NCP) regime Omer Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir and the 34 of those masterminded the 30thJune 1989 Coup d’etat.
At the time, The Judge of the Court responded to the defense request to search for an alternative hall, given the health threats of the Coronavirus – COVID-19 Pandemic.Furthermore and amidst tight security measures, the trial session of the ousted Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, and 34 of the Islamist military and civilian figures accused in the 1989 Military Coup d’etat case was held in Khartoum. The judge excluded the appearance of one of the most prominent defendants from attending the hearings due to health conditions. And the President of the Court, Maulana Essam El-Din Mohamed Ibrahim, announced the response to the requests made by members of the defense bodies of the accused to provide an appropriate room that meets the health conditions to prevent the Corona virus, and to continue its sessions next Tuesday. In the previous session, the judge refused to suspend the trial procedures, but promised to consider arranging an alternative hall. Ibrahim said in the previous session that the competent authorities in the judiciary promised to respond to the request of the defendants’ lawyer to provide an alternative room in which the trial would take place, and it was likely that the next sessions would take place in the Friendship Hall in the center of the capital, Khartoum.
Last July 2020, the judiciary set up a special criminal court to hear the case of the Military coup d’etat against the democratically elected government, headed at the time by the former Prime Minister, Sayed al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, May God have mercy on him .
On the other hand, the judge postponed the decision on the appeal submitted by Baroud Sandal Rajab, the defense lawyer, on behalf of the leaders of the Popular Congress Party (PCP), Dr. Ali Al-Hajj Muhammed Adam and Sayed Ibrahim Al-Senussi, who submitted it to the Chief Justice to stop the trial procedures in a special court, and to transfer it to a regular court. The Special Court responded to thepetition submitted by the defendant’s defense lawyer, Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, to be absent from the sessions due to Healthconditions, except for sessions that require interrogation. During the previous session, the judge had rejected the defendants ’defense committee’s questioning about the impact of the political situation in obtaining a fair trial, stressing that the court stands at the same distance from all parties and will not be affected negatively or positively by the political climate in the country.
Among the most prominent defendants in the Military coupd’etat case are the leaders of the former National Islamic Front (NIF) regime, the ousted President, Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, Ali Othman Muhammad Taha, Bakri Hassan Saleh, Nafie Ali Nafie, and the two leaders in the Popular Congress Party (PCP), Dr. Ali al-Hajj and Ibrahim al-Senussi, as well as a number of military and civilians loyal to the ousted regime.
In previous statements, the Sudanese Prime Minister, Dr. Abdallah Hamdok, called for speeding up procedures for trying the symbols of the former ousted President of the NCP regime, in the case of the coup d’etat , as a result of the increasing pressure from the Sudanese street. The defense committee considered the prime minister’s statement a blatant interference by the executive authority to influence the judiciary.
As it is known previously that Omer al-Bashir was convicted in a special court on charges of financial corruption in December 2019, to two years in prison, and he was placed in the Social Reform Institution in Kober Central Prison. Al-Bashir and the leaders of the ousted regime face other charges of criminal association, terrorism and killing demonstrators during the popular movement, which overthrew its rule in April 2019.
Omer al-Bashir seized power in a military coup in 1989, planned by the leader of the National Islamic Movement, Dr. Hassan Abdalla al-Turabi. Dozens of members of the Sudanese Islamic Movement, both military and civilians, participated in its implementation.
The defense committee for the accused includes lawyers from the leaders of the ousted regime of the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Popular Congress Party(PCP), among them Muhammad al-Hassan al-Amin, Kamal Omar Abd al-Salam and Baroud Sandal Rajab, in addition to the former Minister of Justice, Abdel-Basit Sabadarat, who is advocating for the ousted president, and his former deputy, Ali Osman Muhammad Taha.
The Trial of the soldiers who previously participated in the Coup d’etat of the 30th of June1989 is not among the priorities of the Glorious Sudanese Revolution of December now, noting that the Military Coup d’états in Sudan have been many since the dawn of Sudan’s Independence from the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium on the First of January 1956, as is known in the history of Sudan. The Sudanese Military Generals are no stranger to Coup d’états and their attempts. https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article67851
Adding to the confusion and anger, the Sudanese Transitional Government, instead of focusing its efforts towards meeting the primary needs of the Sudanese people in terms of food, fuel and medical treatment along with focusing on preventive measures against the Coronavirus Pandemic –COVID-19 and handing over the fugitives from the Internal Justice to The Hague, given the appointment of the New Chief Prosecutor who once has visited Khartoum. Some analysts have described the Trials that taking place against those involved in the 30th June 1989 Military Coup d’etat as Farce.
Travis Bradberry who was born as Mitchell in South Dakota in the United States of America and the the bestselling author of The Seagull Manager and a LinkedIn Influencer, has been quoted as saying: “Humans are creatures of habit. If you quit when things get tough, it gets that much easier to quit the next time. On the other hand, if you force yourself to push through it, the grit begins to grow in you.”https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/force-quotes
Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is an author, columnist and a blogger. His blog is http://thussudan.wordpress.com/