Bashir Trial for 1989 Coup Adjourned as Crowds Jostle Outside Court

FILE PHOTO: Sudanese former president Omar Hassan al-Bashir sits inside a cage during the hearing of the verdict that convicted him of corruption charges in a court in Khartoum, Sudan. December 14, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
FILE PHOTO: Sudanese former president Omar Hassan al-Bashir sits inside a cage during the hearing of the verdict that convicted him of corruption charges in a court in Khartoum, Sudan. December 14, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
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Bashir Trial for 1989 Coup Adjourned as Crowds Jostle Outside Court

FILE PHOTO: Sudanese former president Omar Hassan al-Bashir sits inside a cage during the hearing of the verdict that convicted him of corruption charges in a court in Khartoum, Sudan. December 14, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
FILE PHOTO: Sudanese former president Omar Hassan al-Bashir sits inside a cage during the hearing of the verdict that convicted him of corruption charges in a court in Khartoum, Sudan. December 14, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

Ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir appeared in court Tuesday at the opening of his trial for leading the military coup that brought him to power in 1989, before the hearing was adjourned to find a bigger venue amid chaotic scenes outside.

Hundreds of lawyers, supporters, family members and journalists jostled outside, complaining to security officials that they were unable to get into the court, a Reuters journalist said.

Sudanese people, ringed by police, also chanted slogans outside the court, some in support of Bashir, who has been jailed since he was toppled in April last year following mass protests against his 30-year rule.

The trial, which includes some of Bashir's former allies, was adjourned until Aug. 11 when it will be moved to larger venue.

Bashir could be sentenced to death if convicted, a lawyer and SUNA, the state-news agency, said.

State TV footage showed scores of security members inside the packed but otherwise calm courtroom, but did not show Bashir himself. Two witnesses who attended the session told Reuters they saw Bashir inside the defendants' cage in a white prison uniform.

In December, his lawyer told reporters it was a "political trial par excellence" more than 30 years after the event. Judge Essam Eddin Mohamed Ibrahim promised a fair trial.

Another Sudanese court has already handed down a two-year sentence in December on corruption charges. Bashir also faces trials and investigations over the killing of protesters.

Bashir is also wanted by the International Criminal Court, which issued arrest warrants against him in 2009 and 2010 on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan's restive Darfur region.

Before any statements or evidence could be given, the judge postponed the hearing. "We will end this court session (and adjourn trial proceedings) to take better measures (to have a bigger hall to include all lawyers)," he said.

Some lawyers had complained their colleagues had not been able to get into Tuesday's session. Others asked for more precautionary measures due to the risk from the coronavirus.

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

The judge refused defense lawyers' requests to release some of the defendants before the resumption of the trial, SUNA said.

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



Israel Warns Lebanese against Returning to Area at Border

 This picture taken from Lebanon's southern village of Shaqra on January 25, 2025 shows an Israeli army Merkava main battle tank moving along a road on the outskirts of the village of Mais al-Jabal along the border with Israel in south Lebanon. (AFP)
This picture taken from Lebanon's southern village of Shaqra on January 25, 2025 shows an Israeli army Merkava main battle tank moving along a road on the outskirts of the village of Mais al-Jabal along the border with Israel in south Lebanon. (AFP)
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Israel Warns Lebanese against Returning to Area at Border

 This picture taken from Lebanon's southern village of Shaqra on January 25, 2025 shows an Israeli army Merkava main battle tank moving along a road on the outskirts of the village of Mais al-Jabal along the border with Israel in south Lebanon. (AFP)
This picture taken from Lebanon's southern village of Shaqra on January 25, 2025 shows an Israeli army Merkava main battle tank moving along a road on the outskirts of the village of Mais al-Jabal along the border with Israel in south Lebanon. (AFP)

The Israeli army on Saturday warned residents of dozens of Lebanese villages near the border against returning until further notice, a day after Israel said its forces would remain in south Lebanon beyond a Sunday deadline for their departure.

A ceasefire that ended last year's war between Hezbollah and Israel stipulated that Israeli forces should withdraw as the Iran-backed group's weapons and fighters are removed from the south and the Lebanese army deploys. The deal, brokered by Washington and Paris, set a 60-day period which ends on Sunday.

But Israel said on Friday the terms had not been fully enforced by the Lebanese state, meaning Israeli troops would stay beyond Sunday, without saying for how long.

Lebanon's US-backed military on Saturday accused Israel of procrastinating in its withdrawal.

In a statement on social media platform X, the Israeli military posted a map showing an area of the south containing dozens of villages and reminding residents that until further notice they are forbidden from returning to their homes.

"Anyone who moves south of this line puts themselves in danger," the statement said.

The line stretches from Shebaa, less than 2 km (1.5 miles) from the border in the east, to Mansouri in the west - about 10 km (6 miles) from the border.

The ceasefire ended more than a year of hostilities which were triggered by the Gaza war and peaked in a major Israeli offensive against Hezbollah, which uprooted more than a million people in Lebanon and left the group badly weakened.

The Israeli military says it has been seizing Hezbollah weapons and dismantling its infrastructure in the south.

The White House said on Friday that a short, temporary ceasefire extension was urgently needed.

French President Emmanuel Macron told his Lebanese counterpart Joseph Aoun that he was making contacts to maintain the ceasefire and complete the implementation of the agreement, the Lebanese presidency said in a statement.

Aoun stressed to Macron the need to oblige Israel to implement the deal to preserve stability in the south.

Hezbollah, which suffered major blows in the war, said on Thursday that any delay of Israel's withdrawal would be an unacceptable breach of the deal and put the onus on the Lebanese state to act. Hezbollah said the Lebanese state would have to deal with such a violation "through all means and methods guaranteed by international charters".

Israel said its campaign against Hezbollah aimed to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people forced by Hezbollah rocket fire to leave their homes in northern Israel.

The Lebanese army, in a statement issued on Saturday, urged Lebanese residents to wait before heading into the border region, citing the presence of mines and unexploded Israeli ordnance.

The army said it had continued to implement the plan to strengthen its deployment south of the Litani River since the ceasefire came into effect.

"Delays occurred in a number of the phases as a result of procrastination in the withdrawal by the Israeli enemy, which complicated the mission of the army's deployment," the statement said. The army "maintains its readiness to complete its deployment as soon as the Israeli enemy withdraws".