Sudanese man convicted of passing information to the ICC

January 28, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — A Sudanese court today handed a harsh sentence of 17 years in jail to a man accused of attempting to get hold of classified documents with the aim of sharing it with the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The judge ruled that Mohammed Al-Sirri’s actions “hurt the country politically and efforts to unite and stabilize it politically”.

“The espionage has reached its peak these days therefore the court has decided to resort to jail rather than capital punishment” Sudan official news agency quoted the judge.

Al-Sirri believed to be a former soldier, is the first person in Sudan to be charged with spying for the Hague based court.

Sudan is in a state of high alert for a decision by the ICC judges on ten counts presented by prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in mid-July against president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir that include three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder.

Ocampo accused Al-Bashir of masterminding a campaign to get rid of the African tribes in Darfur; Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.

Several opposition figures and human right activists have been arrested in recent months by Sudanese security for voicing support to the ICC or suspicion of dealing with the court.

The case against Al-Sirri focuses on attempts to obtain documents incriminating the state minister for humanitarian affairs Ahmed Haroun.

An army intelligence officer, Omar Abdel Faraj, who witnessed against Al-Sirri before the court said that the suspect tried to solicit information about special police in Darfur, men trained and paid by the government and supervised by the former state minister of Interior.

He added that they found evidence that Ibrahim had emailed a number of documents to his Sudanese Americans contacts who had asked him for documents that the ICC could use.

On April 27, 2007, the ICC judges issued an arrest warrant for Haroun and Ali Kushayb, a militia leader. However Sudan rejected to hand over the two suspects.

Haroun is accused of being responsible of the mobilization of militias to quell the rebellion. But he denied the charges of mass killings of civilians and rape.

But Al-Sirri had pleaded not guilty and said he confessed under duress.

A lawyer familiar with the case said al-Sirri claimed during the trial that he was set up and that the classified documents were handed to him when he went to the Sudanese interior ministry to ask for his personal file.

The lawyer said al-Sirri was arrested with the classified documents in his possession, and that a ministry clerk testified he had asked for them. The lawyer spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because he did not represent al-Sirri.

A spokeswoman for the office of the ICC’s prosecutor denounced the verdict.

“If the international community needed one more proof that the Sudanese will not investigate and prosecute massive crimes committed in Darfur, this is it” she told Associated Press.

“Instead of collecting evidence, they intimidate, torture or convict anyone they suspect might be willing to give information on the crimes” she added.

The spokeswoman spoke on condition of anonymity, citing court procedures.

A Sudanese human rights lawyer Nabil Adeeb questioned the verdict.

“Spying means you give information to a foreign country, but the ICC is not a country” Adeeb told The Associated Press.

“It’s a court, whether you recognize it or not” he said.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) issued resolution 1593 under chapter VII in March 2005 referring the situation in Darfur to the ICC.

(ST)