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Khartoum sentences 22 Darfur rebels |
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Friday, 01 August 2008 |
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The Anti-Terrorism Special Court in Khartoum has sentenced to death twenty two defendants of the Justice and Equality Movement who were arrested following the movement’s attack on Omdurman in May.
The head of the defense team, Kamal Omar Abdul-Salam, said that the rules, according to which the defendants were tried, violate the constitution and ignore the criminal law and the evidence act.
He pointed out that the defendants should have been dealt with as prisoners of war.For its part, the Justice and Equality Movement described the trials as “joke.”
The spokesman of the movement, Ahmed Hussein, told Miraya FM that in such cases, the prisoners should be exchanged not tried in mock trials, as he put it.
Meanwhile, the unified Sudan Liberation Movement SLM, announced its refusal to start any negotiations with the Sudanese government unless it proves keenness to achieve peace.
The spokesman of the movement, Isam Eddine Al-Haj, said that all the defendants accused of committing war crimes must be tried by the International Criminal Court before going into any negotiations.
He also belittled the importance of the European Union EU’s initiative to unify the factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement.
He pointed out that they have not yet received an official notification from the EU about the initiative.
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