Sudan starts trial of Darfur rebels involved in Khartoum attack
June 19, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — 39 Darfur rebel suspects appeared in court Wednesday over their alleged roles in an attack near the capital last month that left 200 dead and shocked the government.
Prosecutors accused the defendants of conspiring against the constitution, waging war against the state and terrorizing civilians. Lawyers said that they could face the death penalty if convicted.
The suspects were arrested after the May 10 attack near Khartoum by the rebel Justice and Equality Movement. It was the closest Darfur rebels have ever come to Sudan’s seat of government, hundreds of miles from their bases in the far west of the country.
The Darfur conflict flared into a full scale war in 2003 when ethnic African rebels rebelled against the Arab-dominated central government, which they say marginalized them. Up to 300,000 people have died in the fighting and 2.5 million people were displaced.
Security was tight around three separate court houses Wednesday where the rebel suspects were tried. Policemen in open trucks, mounted with automatic rifles, closed roads leading to the court houses.
At one site, 13 defendants shuffled out of the courthouse, many without shoes, their ankles chained. They were whisked away immediately in police cars.
Wednesday’s sessions were mostly procedural and judges set the trials to resume next week.
The defendants complained they had no access to their chosen lawyers. Defense lawyers were assigned by the state, and other lawyers volunteered to help them as well.
Senior defense lawyer, Mohammed Abdullah Duma, said these special courts deny the defendants normal procedures because they can only appeal their sentence once.
Five special courts are set to try an undetermined number of suspects on terrorism charges, Sudan ‘s chief judge, while another appellate court was also set up for the defendants.
Sudan ‘s 2001 terrorism law applies to cases involving people accused of carrying guns against the state, terrorizing citizens, collaborating with a foreign country and undermining the country’s constitution. People convicted under this law can face the death penalty.
A spokesman for another Darfur rebel group, Sudan ‘s Liberation Army-Unity faction, threatened to retaliate if the trials take place.
“We reiterate that Darfuris are innocent of terrorism charges. The government is the source of terrorism,” Majhoub Hussein said in a telephone interview from London . He said 23 SLA-Unity members were arrested following the attack.
“We will meet these trials with countermeasures, whether assassination or liquidation … of any government official or politician, from the security or army, or from the leadership of the (ruling) National Congress Party without exemption, including the president,” he said.
The credibility of his threats was unclear. Darfur rebel groups have splintered into many factions with no clear command structure and shifting loyalties. Hussein said his group has coordinated with the JEM forces to “bring down the regime.”
(AP)