COURT TRIAL OF AL SANADRA CASE – UPDATE (12)

<p><b>HUDO Centre <br />7th February 2018 <br />Update (12) <br />COURT TRIAL OF AL-SANADRA CASE</b> <br />The court session was held on 31st January 2018 at Khartoum North court before Justice/ Abdeen Hamid Dhahi. All parties were present except the prosecutor. The next court session will be on 14th January 2018. The coming session is scheduled to hear testimonies from Al<!-- [if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]-->Abbasiya’s former governor and Tagali Ommda/ mayor. Summary of the court session The main activity of the session was hearing of testimonies from two accusing witnesses (the 15th and 16th witnesses). Their names are; <br />Mr. Emam Abdalla Eldai, 47 years old, self-employed and a resident of Al-Abbasiya (15th witness) and Mr. Rafae Eltahir Hamid, 38 years old, self-employed and a resident of Al-Sanadra (16th witness).<br /><br />They were cross-examined by the court/ judge and lawyers from both panels. The summary of their testimonies is indicated below: <br />§ The 15th witness informed court that soon after the attack, he went together with two community leaders in Al-Abbasiya to the locality governor/ Mr. Daoud Abu-Kalam to inform him about the incident. They found the governor in a meeting over the same issue and they were invited in to join. The following were in the meeting; the locality governor, Al-Abbasiya’s army commandant/ Colonel. Elrasheed, SAF Captain/ Elgeiley, the state’s Member of Parliament/ Gaidoum Moalla, Al-Abbasiya’s Mayor/ Adam Omer Ismail, the mayor of Tagali/ Altahir Mansour and other two people from Messairya Arab tribe (one of them is Elmanzoul Rodwan). During the meeting, defendant/ Abakar Fadelmowla came in PDF uniform and informed the commandant that, they attacked the first camp and that they are in need for support vehicles. <br />§ Two vehicles were sent together with SAF soldiers, PDF commandant and other members of PDF to evacuate the attackers. One of those vehicles was loaded with a machine gun and its bullets. <br />§ The 15th witness informed court further that, he had asked the military commandant later in the hospital when the dead bodies had arrived that “was Al-Sanadra a camp”? But he got no reply. HUDO Centre <br />§ The 15th witness heard about looting of cattle concerning the attackers from MP/ Gaidoum at the meeting. <br />§ The 15th witness had informed by one of the defendants (Hamid Almanzol) that, “the young men of Al-Sanadra were peaceful and I met one that I know”. <br />§ That the attackers first gathered at the water source and open yard inside Al-Sanadra. <br />§ Al-Sanadra and Shawaya are not warring areas. The witnesses recognized Hamid Almanzol, Ahmed Al-Tayeb Al-Zain and Abakar Fadelmowla among the defendants and the court ascertained it by asking them their names. At the end of the session, the judge adjournment court to 14th January 2018 at 11:00 AM for the former locality governor/ Mr. Daoud Abu-Kalam and Tagali Ommda (Mayor)/ Eltahir Mansour to give their testimonies as accusing witnesses. <br /><br />Observation Notes <br />§ The judge reminded the lawyers to be on time. <br />§ The defendants’ lawyers requested the judge to reject the testimony of the 14th witness on grounds that, the witness had an interest because he was declared owning some of the looted sheep. The justice advised them to submit a written objection having missed the opportunity of objecting during the mentioned court session. <br />§ Musa Mohamed is the name of the defendant who escaped. He was responsible for weapons in PDF (arming and disarming). <br /><br />Recommendations/ Appeals HUDO urges all the concerned, especially: <br />§ The Sudan court to conduct the trial fairly <br />§ The activists, defenders and supporters to keep on attending court sessions <br />§ The diplomatic missions and embassies to observe the court sessions <br />§ The Sudan and international media to give full coverage for the court<br /><br />END For any further information please write to hudo2009@gmail.com</p>