Sudan’s Bashir kept key to room with millions of euros, court hears

Sudan's Bashir kept key to room with millions of euros, court hears
Sudan's Bashir kept key to room with millions of euros, court hears

Sudan's toppled former leader Omar al-Bashir was the only person with a key to a room at the presidential palace holding millions of euros, his last office manager testified on Saturday.

Speaking at Bashir's trial on charges of possessing illicit foreign currency and corruption, Yasser Basheer said the former president gave him more than 10 million euros' ($11 million) cash in his final months of rule for delivery to different parties.

Sudan's military ousted Bashir in April after months of protests. His prosecution is a test of how far power-sharing military and civilian authorities will tackle the legacy of his 30-year authoritarian rule.

The former manager, who worked for Bashir from September 2018 and was speaking as a defence witness, said the president once gave him 5 million euros for Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The money, Basheer said, was delivered in the presence of Abdelrahim's brother Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the RSF and deputy head of the Transitional Military Council that ruled after Bashir's ouster. He is now a member of the Sovereign Council formed in a military-civilian power-sharing deal.

Other recipients of cash included the DefenceMinistry, plus military personnel and civilians for medical treatment, Basheersaid, adding that he did not know the source of the cash and was only followingorders.

Abdelmoneim Mohamed, an accountant at theInternational University of Africa, a private institution with links toIslamists, also testified in Bashir's defence. He said the university'sdirector and deputy director received 4 million euros in cash from Bashir.

Bashir sat in a metal cage in the courtroom wearingtraditional white robes and turban.

Though he did not speak at Saturday's hearing, hedenied the charges when formally indicted a week ago.

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