Daily Times

Sudan’s army said Saturday it had handed prosecutors the results of a probe into the recent killing of two demonstrators who were calling for justice for violence during protests in 2019.

On Tuesday evening, hundreds of protesters had gathered outside the army headquarters in Khartoum to demand justice for the victims of the 2019 violent dispersal of mass sit-in the same area.

The 2019 sit-in initially demanded longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir step down and later the transfer to civilian rule.

At the rally last Tuesday, security forces dispersed protesters, killing two and wounding dozens.

“General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the transitional sovereign council and the armed forces commander-in-chief, handed the results of an armed forces probe into the events… to prosecutor general Tagelsir al-Hebr,” the army said in a statement Saturday.

It said the results of the probe included a list of army personnel suspected to be involved in the events, as well as an order “to lift their immunity”.

“This will allow for the general prosecution to take legal procedures and reach final results,” the army said.

The 2019 sit-in was held to call for an end to Bashir’s three-decade rule.

The iron-fisted ruler was ousted in April 2019, but the protesters kept up the encampment for weeks demanding the transfer of power from the military to civilians.

In June 2019 and towards the end of Ramadan, armed men in military fatigues violently dispersed the camp.

The days-long crackdown in 2019 left at least 128 people dead, according to medics linked to the protest movement.

The ruling generals at the time denied ordering the bloody dispersal and called for a probe into the incident.

Sudan has been led since August 2019 by a civilian-majority transitional administration, which has vowed to ensure justice to the victims and their families.

Later that year, an investigation committee led by a prominent lawyer launched an independent probe into the killings but has yet to finish its inquiry.