Sudanese court upholds death sentence against university student

June 28, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – A Sudanese court on Tuesday has upheld the death sentence issued previously against a university student who was accused of killing a member of students’ chapter of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) at East Nile College (ENC) in Khartoum.

Mohamed Awad al-Karim, was injured during clashes between NCP students and supporters of Darfur rebels groups at the ENC last April and died later at the hospital of his wounds.

Following the clashes, security services detained the Darfurian student Mohamed Baggari on charges of killing Awadelkarim.

The Criminal Court of Khartoum North sentenced Baggari for manslaughter to five years imprisonment and the payment of ‘blood money’ to Awadelkarim’s family.

In the appeal case however, the judge changed the verdict to the death penalty.
On Tuesday, the court upheld the ruling after the victim’s family refused to pardon the defendant or accept the blood money.

The convict lawyer Adam Abbakar told Sudan Tribune following the court’s decision that he would appeal the ruling again within two weeks.

Several students had died in recent years as a result of political disputes including the death of Al-Tayeb Salih, also a student at the ENC who was kidnapped in January 2015 and later found dead.

In 2014, a student at the University of Nyala by the name of Mohmaed Sulieman was also abducted and his dead body was later found in the outskirts of Nyala.

Also in 2013, Ali Abakar, a third year, a third year economic student at the University of Khartoum, was shot dead when security forces and the police entered the campus, using tear gas and live bullets to disperse a demonstration organised by Darfur students at UofK.

In December 2013, four students from Darfur studying at University of Gazira including Mohamed Younis Nil Hamid, Adel Mohamed Ahmed and al-Sadiq Abdalla Yaquob and Nu’man Ahmed were killed in clashes with pro-government students.

(ST)