Sudan’s Attorney General has approved legal action filed by a group of local lawyers against the recently deposed President Omar al-Bashir and some "Muslim Brotherhood" leaders.
Pressed charges include undermining the national constitution and plotting a coup against an elected government.
Plaintiff attorney Almaez Hadra confirmed that the charges have been approved and transferred to a specialized court in northern Khartoum for prosecution.
“The case is based on pre-coup laws. The charges are founded on stipulations found in the 1983 criminal law and not the criminal code that the Bashir regime repeatedly amended,” Hadara explained.
Bashir came to power in 1989 when, as a brigadier in the Sudanese Army, he led a group of officers in a military junta that ousted the democratically elected government of prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi after it began negotiations with rebels in the south.
According to the laws “undermining the constitutional order” is a criminal offense, and suspects found guilty are punished with political isolation.
“The law will isolate them (Bashir and MB leaders) and we will not try them according to the laws in which they tried their opponents,” Hadara said.
Undermining constitutional order is considered a crime against the state.
As for ongoing protests in Sudan, thousands of demonstrators marched after Friday prayers, condemning what they labeled as “intransigence” on part of the Military Council leading the country through its transitional period.
Marchers chanted slogans that are against martial law and urging that power be ceded to a civilian government.
On the other hand, the international community is upping pressure on the military junta to hand over power to civilians.
Farhan Haq, spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General, called on the Sudanese parties to work for a peaceful transition of power and to achieve people's aspirations for democracy, good governance and development.
