Sudan
Politics | Society | Human rights
Sudan's constitutional court dismisses anti-terror appeal

afrol News, 21 August - Sudan's constitutional court has dismissed an appeal against the recent verdict of the country's anti-terror courts.

The courts sentenced to death dozens of Darfur rebels found guilty of launching onslaught against the city of Omdurman in May.

Rights groups blamed Sudan for denying suspects of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) the right to fair trial, and therefore denounced the anti-terror courts' verdicts.

But the country's justice ministry countered such claims in a statement, insisting that the courts' procedures had not breached the constitution since they conducted the trial in accordance with legal principles.

According to the ministry, the convicts condemned to death had been given the chance to defend themselves in a free and fair trial.

A member of the justice ministry's human rights council, Al- Tayyib Haroun, stressed that Omdurman attackers deserved punishments that fit their committed crimes of invading and terrorising the city and killing innocent civilians. He said the punishments would serve as deterrent to others.

Meanwhile, Sudan's anti-terror courts on Wednesday sentenced more Darfur rebels to death for their roles in the 10 May attack, bringing the total number to 50.

However, four under-aged suspects have had their cases transferred to the juvenile courts.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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