Sudan sentences two gunmen to death over attack on police station in W. Kordofan

April 23, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – A Sudanese court Sunday sentenced two people allegedly members of the rebel alliance Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) to death by hanging for an attack on police station in West Kordofan state two years ago.

A judge of Khartoum North court, Mohamed al-Mu’taz, sentenced to death two members of the gunmen for forming a terrorist group and carrying out an armed attack on a police station and killing two police officers.

The culprits received the capital punishment despite a waiver from aggrieved families of the victims, who under normal conditions can pardon the perpetrators responsible for the murder of their sons, according to Islamic legislation.

The defendants were arrested in April 2015 after an attack on the police station in Defra oil field east of the Miram district of western Kordofan, killing two policemen. No SRF rebel faction had claimed the attack at the time.

The Government then announced the seizure of an SRF vehicle, the killing of three attackers and capture of six others.

The five defendants denied any link to the rebel groups in the country.

The court ordered the submission of the verdict to the Supreme Court for approval. It also referred the third attacker to the juvenile court to prosecute him after it was found that he had not reached the age of sixteen years.

(ST)