A Sudanese court in Al-Qurashi 24, Gezira state, began today, Monday, the trial of 11 defendants, including two Sudanese army officers, in the case of the murder of human rights activist Salah al-Tayeb in May last year.
Lawyer Salah al-Tayeb, head of the Sudanese Congress Party branch in al-Qurashi locality in Gezira, was killed in Sudanese army detention centers in al-Azazi area in Gezira state after he was arrested from his home by a force affiliated with military intelligence.
More than a year later, the trial of the defendants, who were arrested after pressure from the family of the deceased, began on Monday, but what was remarkable was the presence of two of the defendants, two army officers in their uniforms, which raised questions from the audience about the significance of this instead of bringing them in chains because they were charged in a case of intentional murder according to Article 130 of the Sudanese Criminal Code.
Kamal Abkar, a member of the indictment panel in the case, told Droop that today’s session was postponed to August 4 after the defendants asked the court to address the Al-Qanee Aid to assign a lawyer to them because they came without a defense.
He added that “the two officers accused in the case arrived at the court in their uniforms, which made the court judge warn the guards who brought them not to allow them to wear official army uniforms.”
He explained that the indictment panel in the case is made up of 29 lawyers from different states of Sudan, noting that the court witnessed a large presence of citizens from the families and acquaintances of the deceased.
In a previous statement, the “Emergency Lawyers” human rights group said that the Sudanese army’s military intelligence arrested Salah al-Din al-Tayeb and detained him along with other civilians in a school in the village of al-Azazi in al-Qurashi locality.
The group added, “After 19 days spent under torture and continuous abuse by members of the armed forces, his soul ascended to its rightful owner as a new, heinous and heinous crime added to the long record of systematic crimes and violations committed by the Sudanese army against civilians, political activists and voluntary actors.”
The Sudanese army’s military intelligence arrested journalist Siddiq Dalai in the city of Damazin in the Blue Nile region on Monday for publishing a report on the killing of lawyer Salah al-Tayeb, one of his relatives.
