Sudan: Omar al-Bashir and his aides charged for plotting 1989 coup

Omar al-Bashir and some of his aides on November 12 have been charged for plotting the 1989 coup that brought him to power. The legal committee of the protest movement Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) in a statement said that arrest warrants have been issued against all military and civilian members who “plotted and carried” out the coup. It further added that warrants and travel bans were issued against Bashir and other top figures such as Nafa Ali Nafa, Ali Osman Taha and Ibrahim al-Sanusi. Ali al-Haj who is a senior leader from the Islamist Popular Congress Party has also been reportedly issued a warrant. 

Bashir, a brigadier, reportedly seized power in an Islamist-backed coup that led to the fall of the then elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al- Mahdi. However, Bashir was soon ousted by the army after months of nation-wide protests against his rules. He has been jailed since and the authorities have filed new charges against him for plotting the coup. Bashir is not the only one in prison; Nafa and Taha were also arrested and are already in prison. According to the Sudanese law if any of the accused is found guilty they could face death penalty or life imprisonment. Bashir is reportedly also a wanted criminal by the Hague-based International Criminal Court for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the war in Darfur. 

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The 1989 coup

The 1989 Sudanese coup was a military coup that was against the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and President Ahmed al-Mirghani. The coup was led by Omar al-Bashir who took power over the country and went on to rule for 30 years until he was overthrown. Bashir also had support from the National Islamic Front and he replaced PM Mahdi with the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation. The coup led to a totalitarian regime and under the influence of NIF, the government also banned political parties, trade unions, and other non-religious institutions. This resulted in a thorough reshaping of the state apparatus. 

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