Sudan’s ex-spy chief declines to plea for mercy

May 21, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s former director of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Salah Gosh refused to plea for mercy; while the investigation committee found no evidence of his involvement in the attempt..

Sudanese authorities announced last November that they have arrested 13 suspects in connection with the coup plot including ex-spy chief Salah Gosh and Brigadier General Mohamed Ibrahim Abdel-Galil who at one point served on Bashir’s security unit.

While military officers stood trial and later pardoned by president Omer Al-Bashir, those who were part of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) including Gosh have yet to be prosecuted.

Sources with knowledge of the ongoing investigation into the recent coup attempt have told Sudan Tribune that Gosh and the four security officers detained with him refused to demand the presidential pardon as it was done by the military.

On the other hand, judges have given NISS one week to bring evidence proving involvement of Salah Gosh in planning to overthrow the government along with other security and army officers.

Khartoum central court’s judge said that he would release Gosh and the other four NISS officers if evidence of their involvement in the coup was not presented to the court within a week.

The court had renewed detention of the accused officers until next Sunday upon a re-interrogation request made by the investigation committee.

Nabil Adeeb, a member the defence team, said he expects his client to be released next week, stressing that NISS’s evidence against Gosh is weak.

Adeeb further said that the detained officers called for allowing them to have family visits as well as giving them access to their defence lawyers.

Gosh’s arrest marked the downfall of the once powerful spy chief who is better known for his deep cooperation with the United States on counter-terrorism following September 2001 attacks in Washington and New York.

He was surprisingly dismissed from his position in 2009 before being appointed as a presidential adviser for security.

In 2011 he was abruptly sacked by president Bashir from the position following an imbroglio between him and the powerful presidential assistant Nafie Ali Nafie over dialogue with opposition parties. He was later stripped of his position within the NCP and only maintained his seat in the Sudanese parliament.

The Sudanese parliament recently revoked Gosh’s parliamentary immunity to allow for his prosecution.

(ST)