Fall of Bashir: Two-year detention for Sudans once powerful leader

Omar al-Bashir, dressed in traditional white robes and a turban, watched the ruling from inside a metal defendant’s cage.

The former Sudan president was on Saturday convicted of corruption charges.

“The convict, Omar al-Bashir, is consigned to a social reform facility for a period of two years…The sums of foreign and national currency that were seized are confiscated,” the  judge Al-Sadiq Abdelrahman ruled.

According to Reuters, the ruling shows how military and civilian authorities now sharing power in Sudan will act to overturn his legacy.

Troops and military vehicles were deployed to Khartoum early Saturday to deter about 3,000 of his supporters who had rallied in the center of the city.

Officers blocked access to the presidential palace and the Defence Ministry and there was a heavy security presence at the court.

“Today we went out to demonstrate to defend Islamic religion and against secularism,” said 34-year-old protester Ahmed Yassin.

Ahmed Ibrahim al-Tahir, Bashir’s lead defense lawyer, told Reuters he would appeal the ruling.

“The judge made the ruling based on political motives, but despite that we still have confidence in the Sudanese judiciary,” Tahir told reporters.