Sudanese court sentences 18 rebel soldiers to death

A Sudanese court on Sunday sentenced 18 fighters and supporters of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group to death for the attack on Merowe airport on April 15, 2023, the first day of rebellion against the army.

The Atbara Criminal Court in northern Sudan also confiscated the funds of the 18 defendants, who are awaiting execution by hanging after being convicted of “participating and collaborating in the undermining of the country’s constitutional system and endangering its independence and unity.”

Among other crimes, they were charged with “inciting war against the State, endangering means and means of transport” – in reference to Merowe airport – as well as “vandalism, crimes against humanity, looting and sabotage of public property”.

This was the first case that the court received since the start of the war, on April 15, 2023, the date from which both sides committed war crimes, according to several international organizations and the United Nations, cited by the Ef news agency.

These 18 convicts were summoned for the first time in November 2023 by the court, after being accused of attacking the Merowe airport, which also housed an important military base and included the presence of Egyptian Army soldiers deployed in Sudan to train the Sudanese military.

Among those convicted are 17 combatants, including a commander of the FAR, Ahmed Mohamed Omar, but also a civilian accused of collaborating and sheltering paramilitaries in his home during the attack on the facilities.

That attack killed 43 people and injured 79 members of the Sudanese Armed Forces, almost completely destroyed the airport and damaged a large number of aircraft.

The war in Sudan broke out amid a process of integration of the FAR into the regular forces, which triggered a power struggle between the generals of both factions that led to a bloody conflict that left tens of thousands dead and more than 10 million displaced.