Sudanese Court Convicts Bashir's Wife of 'Illicit Enrichment'

Ousted President Omar al-Bashir during his trial in September 2020 (File photo: Reuters)
Ousted President Omar al-Bashir during his trial in September 2020 (File photo: Reuters)
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Sudanese Court Convicts Bashir's Wife of 'Illicit Enrichment'

Ousted President Omar al-Bashir during his trial in September 2020 (File photo: Reuters)
Ousted President Omar al-Bashir during his trial in September 2020 (File photo: Reuters)

A Sudanese court convicted the wife of ousted President Omar al-Bashir of "illicit enrichment," ordering her to pay a fine of about $127,000. It confiscated her real estate, property, and bank accounts.

In December 2019, the Sudanese authorities arrested Widad Babiker, Bashir's wife, to investigate reports on the acquisition of land and residential real estate.

Authorities seized Babiker's properties and her children's properties and banned her from traveling.

The Public Prosecution reported Babiker for violating the law against the illegal and suspicious wealth of 1989 and interrogated five witnesses and 15 defense witnesses.

The Anti-Corruption Criminal Court in Khartoum, headed by Judge al-Moez Babiker al-Jazouli, convicted the accused Babiker of violating Articles six and seven of the law combating illegal and suspicious wealth.

The court ordered the confiscation of 11 residential plots of land in different neighborhoods in Khartoum and several agricultural lands in Khartoum Bahri.

The court indicated that Babiker continued to receive retirement dues from her late husband, an officer in the Armed Forces, Ibrahim Shamseddine, for more than 16 years after his death and even after her marriage to Bashir.

According to the judge, the Sudanese Armed Forces Retirement Pensions Act waives the entitlement for the deceased's wife as soon as she marries another person. It also waives for his children after marriage.

Bashir married Widad after the death of Shamseddine, a minister of state and one of the most prominent leaders of the 1989 coup. He died in a military plane crash in 2001 in South Kordofan state on the border with South Sudan.

The Committee to Dismantle the June 30, 1989 Regime and Retrieve Public Funds confiscated dozens of residential lands from the defendant and her children in upscale neighborhoods in Khartoum.

Bashir was convicted in December 2019 to two years in prison on charges of "illicit wealth and possession of illicit foreign currency." Authorities confiscated the funds in his possession, and he served his sentence in Kober central prison in Khartoum.

Bashir is still appearing before the court on other charges, namely undermining the constitutional system when he carried out his coup in June 1989 against an elected government headed by the leader of the Umma party, Sadiq al-Mahdi.

He admitted before the court last December his full responsibility for planning and implementing the 1989 coup, but the verdict still needs to be issued.



Israel Vows to 'Respond Forcefully' After Missile Intercepted from Yemen

Houthi supporters gather around a large Palestinian flag during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sanaa, Yemen, 09 May 2025. (EPA)
Houthi supporters gather around a large Palestinian flag during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sanaa, Yemen, 09 May 2025. (EPA)
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Israel Vows to 'Respond Forcefully' After Missile Intercepted from Yemen

Houthi supporters gather around a large Palestinian flag during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sanaa, Yemen, 09 May 2025. (EPA)
Houthi supporters gather around a large Palestinian flag during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sanaa, Yemen, 09 May 2025. (EPA)

Israel's defense minister vowed a forceful response after a missile fired from Yemen was intercepted on Friday, in an attack claimed by the Iran-backed Houthi militias.  

"The Houthis continue to launch Iranian missiles at Israel. As we promised, we will respond forcefully in Yemen and wherever necessary," Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a post on X.

A ceasefire deal between Yemen's Houthis and the US does not include sparing Israel, the militias had said on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the US would stop bombing the Houthis in Yemen, saying that the group had agreed to stop attacking US ships.

The Houthis have attacked numerous vessels in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade, in a campaign that they say is aimed at showing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel has been fighting a war in Gaza since a deadly raid by Palestinian group Hamas into southern Israel in October 2023.