Trial of Sudan’s Bashir Adjourned after Aide Contracts COVID-19

Sudan's deposed president Omar al-Bashir arriving for trial in Khartoum on July 21, 2020. (AFP)
Sudan's deposed president Omar al-Bashir arriving for trial in Khartoum on July 21, 2020. (AFP)
TT

Trial of Sudan’s Bashir Adjourned after Aide Contracts COVID-19

Sudan's deposed president Omar al-Bashir arriving for trial in Khartoum on July 21, 2020. (AFP)
Sudan's deposed president Omar al-Bashir arriving for trial in Khartoum on July 21, 2020. (AFP)

The trial of ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was adjourned on Tuesday after one of his aides contracted the coronavirus.

Bashir and others are standing trial for plotting the 1989 coup. The session has been rescheduled to March 9.

In a statement obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday, spokesman for the prosecution, lawyer Moaz Hadra, said the weekly scheduled session was postponed after the court received a medical report from the Royal Care Hospital in Khartoum stating that Nafie Ali Nafie had tested positive for coronavirus.

The judge also decided to limit the number of people at the court hearings as a health precaution.

Bashir and 27 of his collaborators are on trial for participating and plotting the June 30, 1989 coup, which brought him to power, against the democratically elected government of premier Sadek al-Mahdi. They could all face the death penalty if convicted.

The man dubbed the true brain behind the military overthrow, Hassan Turabi of the National Islamic Front, died in 2016.

In May 2019, the Public Prosecution filed a suit against the group, which organized and participated in the coup, and charged them in accordance with the Sudanese criminal law prevailing at the time.

It accused them all of undermining the existing constitutional order and democracy in the country.

The defense demanded that the charges be dropped and that the case be dismissed. However, the court rejected the request and considered the coup an “ongoing” crime.



Lebanese Red Cross Will Try Again to Remove Bodies from Israeli Strike Site

A picture taken from the area of Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon shows explosions over buildings in the town of Khiam, during Israeli bombardment on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
A picture taken from the area of Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon shows explosions over buildings in the town of Khiam, during Israeli bombardment on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
TT

Lebanese Red Cross Will Try Again to Remove Bodies from Israeli Strike Site

A picture taken from the area of Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon shows explosions over buildings in the town of Khiam, during Israeli bombardment on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
A picture taken from the area of Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon shows explosions over buildings in the town of Khiam, during Israeli bombardment on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

The Lebanese Red Cross will send another convoy Tuesday to Wata al-Khiam in southern Lebanon to search for and remove the bodies of 15 people killed in an Israeli airstrike, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.

Paramedics accessed the site of the strike two days prior and removed five other bodies, but needed to return with larger vehicles to remove the rubble.

The NNA said the deployment is in coordination with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, which is the usual procedure.

The Red Cross did not immediately comment on the news, but expressed concern in recent weeks over several instances where Israel has struck in or close to areas where they have deployed paramedics to search for wounded people and casualties.

The Israeli military said it issued warnings to the residents there in late October to evacuate ahead of strikes on Hezbollah militant targets, and told ambulances to avoid the area.