Court refuses to order Turabi’s continued detention

Khartoum North Court on Tuesday turned down a prosecution request to extend the detention of jailed opposition leader Hasan al-Turabi, and set a trial date for 27 May, the Associated Press agency (AP) reported. Judge Mutasim Tajulsir Mohamed said he was not convinced by prosecution arguments that it needed more time to interrogate Turabi, who has been in jail since 21 February on charges of a conspiracy to overthrow President Umar al-Bashir, the report said. The judge said Turabi and co-defendants from the People’s National Congress (PNC) had not been interrogated since March, and the prosecution had failed to notify Interpol to help arrest two suspects outside Sudan. He ordered the renewal of Turabi’s detention for only seven days starting from Sunday, 20 May, to give the prosecution time to prepare for the trial, the report added.

Turabi and party colleagues from the People’s National Congress (PNC) were arrested on 21 February after the PNC signed a memorandum of understanding with the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) two days earlier, which called for an escalation of popular and peaceful resistance against the government.

Turabi helped President Umar al-Bashir to seize power in 1989, but rivalry between the two came to a head in December 1999 when Turabi attempted to use his power in parliament to push for limits on presidential power. Al-Bashir then dissolved parliament and declared a state of emergency. In an interview with the Khartoum daily ‘Akhbar al-Yawm’ on Tuesday, al-Bashir said Turabi will never be allowed to return to politics. “We will not tolerate nor allow him to return to the scene once again; we will never allow that,” he stated.