Sudan's Bashir rubbishes trial over 1989 coup

Sudan’s former President Omar al-Bashir, on Tuesday appeared at the Prosecutor General’s office in Khartoum to be questioned about his role in a 1989 coup that brought him to power.

Bashir’s lawyer said his had refused to respond to inquiries related to the coup saying the probe lacked credibility.

Bashir’s lawyer, Mohamed al-Amin, told the press: “The former president and all the defendants refused to develop the accusation, because the one who made these allegations was the prosecutor general himself, before he became prosecutor general.

“In this case, therefore, the prosecutor general becomes both the adversary (of al-Bashir) and the judge of the case”.

Omar al-Bashir, who already faces several corruption charges was questioned for the first time time last December regarding the military takeover.

Sudan is navigating a difficult transition period and is struggling to recover from three decades of Bashir’s rule which ended following a military coup last April.