HUDO Centre
5th December 2017
Update (5) COURT TRIAL OF AL-SANADRA CASE
On 29th November 2017, the court hearing was before Justice/Abdeen Hamid Dhahi at Khartoum North court. The investigator read the details of investigation and the process taken against the defendants/accused. At the end of the session, the judge adjourned court to 6th and 7th December 2017 respectively. Summary of the court session The Court session started at 11:45 AM (Sudan local time) before judge/ Abdeen Hamid Dhahi. In attendance were the attorney/ Mohamed Alsafi, the investigator/ Mohamed Elamein Babikir (police Lieutenant), the panel of lawyers (for both the accused and defendants), the defendants and the general public. The investigator/ Mohamed Elamein stated that the case was reported on 2nd September 2016 by Ms. Manal Abdalla Suliman a daughter of one of the deceased/ victims. Then the investigator submitted to court the following documents:
· Postmortem reports of the killed people
· Medical reports of the injured people of which some were rejected by the lawyers of the defendants because they were not stamped. The Judge advised that the rejected medical reports should be presented by issuers (medical personnel).
· A sketch map showing the site (location) of the incident (Al-Sanadra village) which was drawn by the policeman/ Mohamed Tom and Al-Sanadra village’s Sheikh/ Mayor.
· A list of the looted items which was assessed and valued at one hundred fifty eight thousand and two hundred twenty five Sudanese pound (158,225 SDG). By that time, it was approximated to be an equivalent of thirty thousand USD ($30,000).
· Capsules of used ammunition that were found at the scene of incident, seven (7) for AK-47 and twelve (12) for machine-gun. The investigator further informed court that, the four (4) goats which were found/ caught with the first defendant had been handed (taken back) to the owner. Also he informed court about the dates on which each defendant was arrested. The proceedings of this session took four hours to end. Thereafter, the judge adjourned court to 6th and 7th December 2017.
HUDO Centre Notes:
· The court separated the case against the escapee defendant.
· The accusing panel/ lawyers came in court late after the session had started.
· Most of the victims’ families were not in attendance while most of the defendants were present.
Recommendations/ Appeal HUDO urges all the concerned, especially:
§ The Sudan court to conduct the trial fairly
§ The activists and defendants’ supporters to keep on attending court sessions
§ The diplomatic missions and embassies to observe the court sessions
§ The Sudan and international media to give full coverage for the court
End For any further information please write to hudo2009@gmail.com