Sudan’s former president had a room full of millions of euros in his palace, office manager says

Omar al-Bashir on trial on charges of possessing illicit foreign currency and corruption

Khalid Abdelaziz

Saturday 07 September 2019 19:13

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Protesters in Sudan rejoice after officials say al Bashir has quit

Sudan‘s ousted leader, Omar al-Bashir, kept millions of euros locked away in a room in his presidential palace, his trial has revealed.

He was the only person with a key to the room, his last office manager testified on Saturday.

Speaking at Mr Bashir’s trial on charges of possessing illicit foreign currency and corruption, Yasser Basheer said the former president gave him more than €10 (£9.1) million cash in his final months of rule for delivery to different parties.

Sudan’s military ousted Mr Bashir in April after months of protests.

His prosecution is a test of how far power-sharing military and civilian authorities will tackle the legacy of his 30-year authoritarian rule.

The women at the front of Sudan’s political protests

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1/12The women at the front of Sudan’s political protests

The women at the front of Sudan’s political protests

Khadija Saleh, 41, a political activist and blogger, poses for a photograph in Khartoum, Sudan. After six years abroad, Saleh returned to her home country when people took to the streets demanding change. She was at a sit-in near the defence ministry in Khartoum on 3 June when security forces stormed the site. The area had become a centre for anti-government protests. Saleh said she was beaten with sticks, and still wears bandages on her wounds. ‘I came back from a safer place because I want a better future for this country,’ she said.

Photos Reuters

The women at the front of Sudan’s political protests

Awadiya Mahmoud Koko Ahmed, 60, is the head of Food and Tea Sellers Union. She said: ‘I went to see the sit-in area to check what is happening there. I served them free tea with the money my daughter gave me. And we made a kitchen as a group of union members. We prepared food every day. All the people were good. They called me “mom”. When I was in America, I saw that even animals had rights. If I was the president, I would make sure that there was justice. I would treat everyone equally.’

Reuters/Umit Bektas

The women at the front of Sudan’s political protests

Duha Mohmed, 23, escaped the sit-in site at the beginning of the June raid, returning later to help the injured. The student said she was also motivated by a desire for a better life. ‘I don't want to wear headscarf, but it is not my choice. I want my right to wear what I want,’ she said.

Reuters/Umit Bektas

The women at the front of Sudan’s political protests

Shems Osman, 32, is an employee at an international company. Osman studied psychology in Canada. She has Canadian citizenship but she chose to return to Sudan. She said: ‘In Sudan it is definitely different how women carry themselves and how they are treated, and I think this is because of our African culture more than our Arab culture. Sudanese women are just naturally strong. So, they are naturally on the frontline and they are naturally a part of revolution.’

Reuters/Umit Bektas

The women at the front of Sudan’s political protests

Mai Atya, 27, is a musician. Atya said she was beaten during the raid. She said: ‘My main objective like many others is that we believe there should be a change; a good change in a good direction. I was at the sit-in area during the raid. I heard gun shots and ran away but when I jumped over a fence a Rapid Support Force (RSF) soldier caught us. They kept beating us again and again ... they think women should stay at home.’

Reuters/Umit Bektas

The women at the front of Sudan’s political protests

Amel Tajeldin, 41, a housewife and mother of four. Tajeldin said she would take turns with her husband to watch the children so that she could go out to protest. ‘While it was his turn to look after the children, I took part in the demonstrations,’ she said. She used to teach songs to street children in a makeshift tent at the sit-in. On 3 June, members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces shouted at her and other protesters and told them to run, she said. ‘We ran. We were surrounded by soldiers and policemen,’ she said. Both her arms are now wrapped in bandages. ‘While we were running, they beat us. To protect my head, I used my hands. This is why my two arms are broken,’ she said. ‘The ones like us beaten by police were lucky, the ones beaten by RSF members were brutally injured.’

Reuters/Umit Bektas

The women at the front of Sudan’s political protests

Nagda Mansour, 39, is a translator. Mansour was imprisoned for 75 days after attending a demonstration in December. She said it was difficult for many to accept the idea of negotiating with the military because of its leadership’s involvement in the war in Darfur. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), headed by the deputy leader of the council Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, are accused of committing atrocities in Darfur – charges officials have in the past denied. ‘The finalisation of an agreement with the military council remains the beginning not the end,’ said Mansour. ‘We as human rights defenders want to have a guarantee for transitional justice in Sudan.’

Reuters/Umit Bektas

The women at the front of Sudan’s political protests

Hadia Hasaballah, 42, is a counsellor and political activist. Hasaballah works for an NGO dealing with the victims of the 3 June raid. She and her team are supporting more than 100 victims. ‘This regime thinks in a traditional way,’ she said. ‘They know that if they humiliate the women, they will humiliate the whole people... None of the Sudanese women will officially say that they were raped because of the stigma.’

Reuters/Umit Bektas

The women at the front of Sudan’s political protests

Samra Siralkhatim, 21, is a student. During the June protests, Siralkhatim hid from the military in various people’s homes for five days. She said: ‘Sudanese are almost like refugees in their own country. During the June 3 raid night, we sought refuge from the military like we did in previous attacks. That time, they let us go into the defence ministry compound. But this time, the doors were closed during the raid. Security personnel were laughing and a member of the military behind the fence told us that the military was “taking a holiday”,’ she said.

Reuters/Umit Bektas

The women at the front of Sudan’s political protests

Mahi Aba-Yazid, 35, is unemployed. Under President Omar al-Bashir’s rule, women’s lives were tightly controlled by men, even the way they dressed. Morality laws meant that a woman could be arrested for wearing trousers. For that reason, Aba-Yazid wore trousers while she called for change at the sit-in site. She believes she was beaten more because of this choice. ‘There was already a bullet in my arm. I was bleeding but they continued to beat me,’ she said.

Reuters/Umit Bektas

The women at the front of Sudan’s political protests

Nahid Gabralla, 53, is a human rights activist. Gabralla said she was beaten with sticks and threatened with rape at the sit-in. ‘Sudan can be better,’ she said. ‘My daughter deserves to live in a nice country... We will fight for a democratic Sudan, real change and for our rights.’

Reuters/Umit Bektas

The women at the front of Sudan’s political protests

Manal Farah, 49, is a housewife. Farah lost her son, a 22-year-old university student, when security forces stormed the sit-in. She said he insisted on protesting even though she asked him to stay home. ‘The aim of the government is to convince mothers of revolutionaries to prevent their sons to join the revolution, but no matter what we say to them they will never stop before achieving their objectives,’ Farah said. ‘When he started in university, he started to ask why there is corruption in Sudan. He said there must be a change, a new Sudan ... I pray for my son’s dreams to come true.’

Reuters/Umit Bektas

The former manager, who worked for Mr Bashir from September 2018 and was speaking as a defence witness, said the president once gave him £5 (£4.5) million for Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The money, Mr Basheer said, was delivered in the presence of the deputy’s brother Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the RSF and deputy head of the transitional military council that ruled after Mr Bashir’s ouster.

He is now a member of the sovereign council formed in a military-civilian power-sharing deal.

Other recipients of cash included the Defence Ministry, plus military personnel and civilians for medical treatment.

Mr Basheer added that he did not know the source of the cash and was only following orders.

Abdelmoneim Mohamed, an accountant at the International University of Africa, a private institution with links to Islamists, also testified in Mr Bashir’s defence. He said the university’s director and deputy director received £4 (£3.6) million in cash from the former president.

Mr Bashir sat in a metal cage in the courtroom wearing traditional white robes and turban.

Though he did not speak at Saturday’s hearing, he denied the charges when formally indicted a week ago.

Speaking publicly for the first time since his ouster, Mr Bashir said last week he had received $25 (£20.35) million from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as from other sources, but had not received or used money for his own benefit.

“I used the money for private donations to various parties” including medical services, a university, an Islamic media channel, and urgent fuel provision, he said.

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Millions of euros and Sudanese pounds were found at Mr Bashir’s residence in April, a judicial source said.

The charges carry maximum prison sentences of around 10 years. The next hearing is set for 14 September.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants against him in 2009 and 2010 on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Reuters

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