Sudan court sentences NISS officers to up to 8 years in prison over coup attempt

April 25, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – A special tribunal in Sudan has sentenced six officers from the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) to various jail terms in connection with their alleged role in a coup attempt thwarted by authorities last year.

On Thursday, the court slapped a four years jail term on Lieutenant Colonel Hashim Omar, six years for Lieutenant Colonel Amin Zaki, two years for Lieutenant Colonel Jamal al-Din-Fageeri, four years for Major Ahmed Hassan, four years for Major Busairi Ali al-Amin and eight years for Captain Alaa El-Din Mohamed Abdullah. All convicts were also ordered expelled from the NISS.

The court acquitted Captain Ibrahim Obaid-Allah.

This month another military court sentenced seven army officers to prison terms of up to five years and dismissed them from service in connection with the same coup attempt.

But Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir later commuted the sentences and had them released from prison immediately.

A source speaking to Sudan Tribune said he expects Bashir to do the same to the indicted NISS officers.

But the fate of former NISS director Salah Gosh remain mysterious as he has yet to be tried. The source said that since Gosh was not part of the NISS at the time of his arrest he has to face a civilian court.

Authorities have reportedly found no evidence linking Gosh to the coup attempt and were seeking to charge him on unrelated counts of “unlawful enrichment”.

The source said that Khartoum is wary of setting the once-powerful figure free fearing that he might disclose the regime secrets. He added that authorities claim that Gosh had created a CD containing classified information that he is keeping abroad.

The ex-spy chief would only be released if he pledges not to leave the country and refrain from discussing the coup attempt, the source said.

(ST)