Sudan may spare US diplomat killers the death penalty: report

August 9, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — Four men sentenced to death in for assassinating a USAID employee and his driver last year might be able to escape the death penalty, a pro-government newspaper reported today.

The Akhir-Lahza newspaper said that the family of the Sudanese driver have opted to pardon the convicts “for the sake of god” in line with the Islamic Shari’a law which affords other alternatives to capital punishment which includes them that option or they can request blood money as compensation.

Last June five men with Islamic extremist views were found guilty by the judge of killing John Granville and his Sudanese driver Abdel Rahman Abbas on 2008 New Years Eve after opening fire on them from a car.

Only four of the five men were sentenced to death by hanging while the fifth was sentenced to two years in prison because his role was limited to supplying the weapon for the attack.

Abbas’s family insisted before the court that the death sentence be carried out. It is not clear what prompted their change of heart.

The US Secretary of State at the time hailed the verdict saying it is an important step in bringing justice to the two victims.

The defense attorney for the defendants told Akhir-Lahza that they hoped that Granville’s family would follow suit to forgo the death penalty for their clients adding that “America Christian families normally do not believe in execution”.

Granville’s mom, Jane said in a statement read before court that she will not accept any monetary compensation in return for reduced sentence. The emotional letter described John as a “noble” and “unique” person whose death was a “great” loss not just to his family and friends but also to the people of Sudan.

She said that her belief that life imprisonment is the appropriate punishment for the murder but since Sudanese law does not provide for that “I have no other option” but to endorse the capital punishment “to protect others from those killed my beloved son”.

The newspaper said that the appeals court sent the case back to the original trial judge to get the opinion of Granville’s family on whether they want the death penalty carried out or if they pick monetary compensation or grant them amnesty.

(ST)