Sudanese court postpones trial of ousted president, al-Bashir, allies

The trial of ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and some of his former allies has been adjourned by a Sudanese court.

al-Bashir and allies on Tuesday appeared before a court for charges of leading a military coup that brought the autocrat to power in 1989.

Recall that a Sudanese court had already handed al-Bashir(who faces trials and investigations over the killing of protesters) a two-year sentence in December on corruption charges.

Before any statements or evidence could be given, the trial was adjourned until Aug. 11 to reconvene in a larger court to allow more lawyers and family members of defendants to attend.

Some lawyers had complained their colleagues had not been able to get into Tuesday’s session.

Other defendants include former allies of al-Bashir such as former Vice President Ali Taha and Ali al-Haj, secretary general of the Islamist Popular Congress Party (PCP), judicial officials said.

A civilian transition government took over from Bashir under a three-year power sharing deal with the military deal who helped remove al-Bashir but it has struggled to make fix an economy in crisis.

Al-Bashir’s Islamist party has complained of being sidelined in transitional political process following his departure.

On Friday, hundreds of Islamists and other supporters of Bashir took to the streets to protest against the government’s decision to allow the consumption of alcohol for non-Muslims in a reversal of decades of Islamist policies. (Reuters/NAN)