SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources - Sudan sentences 29 Intelligence officers to death for teacher’s killing

30/12/2019: Multiple sources - Sudan sentences 29 Intelligence officers to death for teacher’s killing

• New York Times, by Abdi Latif Dahir

• BBC

• Reuters, by Ali Mirghani

• AP

A Sudanese court has sentenced 29 intelligence officers to death for the torture and killing of Ahmad al-Khair, 36, who was beaten and tortured to death by the officers at a detention centre in the eastern state of Kassala in February following his arrest for taking part in protests against then President Omar al-Bashir's government.

The killing sparked widespread protests.

The prosecution said the death sentences were a just punishment. After the sentencing, the judge asked al-Khair's brother, Sa'd, whether he wanted the 29 men to be pardoned – but he said he wanted them to be executed instead.

Itimad al-Mujamar, a representative of the Sudanese teacher’s union, said at a news conference on Monday that the convictions were “a win for justice.”

The ruling, he said, “sends a message to the other martyrs of the revolution and their families that we are intent on getting our lost rights back.”