Junta general vows to send perpetrators of Khartoum carnage to ‘gallows’

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy chief of the ruling military council, said in a speech broadcast live on state television on Sunday that those responsible for the massacre would be brought to justice.

“We are working hard to take those who did this to the gallows,” said Dagalo, who also heads the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a notorious paramilitary group.

“Whoever committed any fault” will be held accountable, he added.

Thousands of Sudanese protesters demanding civilian rule were violently dispersed by armed men in military fatigues outside the military headquarters in the capital on June 3. According to doctors linked to the protest movement, more than 100 people were killed that day.

The assault outside the army complex was led by the RSF, which has its origins in the infamous Janjaweed militia, accused of abuses in the Darfur conflict between 2003 and 2004.

Sudan’s ruling military council admitted only later that it had ordered the dispersal.

But the council then reversed its position, saying in a statement late on Saturday that it did not order the dispersal and that it had actually planned to purge an area near the protest camp where people were said to be selling drugs.

“The planning of the operation of Colombia (area) was done by military and security authorities,” the statement read. “We assure you that the council is keen to investigate minute by minute facts through its investigation committee.”

Brigadier Abderrahim Badreddine, spokesman for the investigative committee, recently told state television that initial findings showed “officers and soldiers of different ranks from regular forces entered the sit-in without any orders from their superiors.”

“They were not part of the troops who were ordered to clean Colombia,” he said.

The crackdown has triggered global condemnation, with international organizations and several countries calling for an independent probe into the killings.

Meanwhile, members of the transitional council have failed to hand over power to a civilian-led authority despite regional and international pressure. The Khartoum sit-in was protesting that failure.

Bashir charged with corruption
In a separate development on Sunday, ousted ruler Omar al-Bashir appeared in public for the first time since he was overthrown in April. Witnesses said he walked briskly from the vehicle into the building, speaking with the guards escorting him. Minutes later, he walked out scowling after prosecutors read out the charges he faced.

Sudanese prosecutor Alaa al-Din Abdallah told reporters that Bashir had been charged with corruption-related offences.

“The prosecution... accused him of... possession of foreign currency, [and] accepting gifts in an unofficial manner,” Abdallah said.
He said Bashir had been given a chance to respond to the charges.

The military detained Bashir on April 11 in an effective coup after weeks of street protests against his 30-year rule.