Sudan releases Islamist military accused of leading failed coup in 2019

July 7, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – A military court of appeal in Khartoum on Thursday ordered the release of Islamist officers accused of the first coup attempt three months after the fall of the Bashir regime led by former Chief of Staff Hashim Abdel Muttalib.

Abdel Muttalib and a number of military officers were arrested on July 11, 2019, after a coup attempt to restore the Bashir regime.

The official news agency SUNA released a video of the first statement for the former Chief of Staff. Further, they leaked a video of his interrogation where the senior general declared he is an Islamist. and asserted that several Islamist leaders sought to dissuade him from carrying out the coup.

“The court of military appeals accepted the appeal filed by the defence team and reduced their sentence to the time they served in prison,” stated Abdallah Hamid one of the lawyers defending the military officers.

Also, “the court decided to dismiss them from the army,” Hamid added.

The military court issued varying sentences ranging from five to nine years against the Islamist officers.

Concerning the coup leader General Abdel Muttalib, the court decided to reduce his sentence and he had to remain in jail for two years and a half.

However, al-Burhan in his capacity as the head of the Sovereignty Council decided to pardon Abdel Muttalib and release him with the other officers, according to the Monti-Carro website.

He was appointed by the Transitional Military Council in Sudan as Chief of Staff of the Sudanese army in April 2019 after the al-Bashir’s collapse.

During the ousted regime, Abdel Muttalib held the position of Deputy Chief of Joint Staff in the Sudanese army.

Observers in Khartoum point to the presence of several Islamist officers in al-Burhan’s cabinet saying they push him to reconcile with the Islamists in Sudan.

Three years after the revolution, the head of the Sovereign Council still keeps delaying the handover of those wanted by the war crimes court in the Hague, despite the repeated calls by Darfur’s former rebel groups that signed the Juba Peace Agreement.

After the coup of October 25, 2021, al-Burhan reinstated sacked Islamists in the intelligence agency. While; civil servants who had been dismissed by the Empowerment Removal Committee were reinstated by a court decision.

(ST)