High-ranking Sudanese officials sentenced

Sudanese military officers charged with an attempted coup on President Omar Al-Bashir received sentences of up to 5 years in prison, a court heard on Sunday in Khartoum. Among the nine convicted was former chief spy Salah Gosh, as well as senior military and security officials. The group was arrested in November after what the Sudanese government say was a plot to overthrow the current regime was foiled. But according to recent court leaks, retired Director of Intelligence and Security Services Salah Gosh and retired Colonel Abdel Mawla Moses Radio were not subject to military law and were brought before a civil court instead to settle charges against them. Defendants were charged after an initial investigation under Article 162 of the Armed Forces Act (rebellion against the constitutional order), and Article 165 of the Law of Armed Forces (rebel against the military regime). In the first verdict since the arrests, a military court in the capital Khartoum handed down jail terms of between two and five years to nine army officers, said Hisham al-Ja'ali, a lawyer for the defendants. "They were also dismissed from the armed forces," he said, adding that another officer had been acquitted of all charges due to lack of evidence. Wad Ibrahim, senior officer and prominent Islamist in the army, Wad Ibrahim was also received a five-year jail term. Following the sentencing, a statement made by the armed forces said that two officers were acquitted during the investigation, and the remaining defendants were referred to the military court which started its proceedings mid March of this year 2013.