Sudan court sends senior officers to prison over failed coup

AP News

 A Sudanese military court on Monday sentenced a former chief of staff to nine years in prison and five senior officers to five years each after they were convicted of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2019, two military officials said.

The case dates back to July 2019, three months after the military overthrew Sudan’s longtime autocrat, President Omar al-Bashir, amid a popular uprising against his Islamist-backed rule. Sudan’s now-ruling military says the failed attempt sought to sabotage a power-sharing deal between the generals and the pro-democracy movement that led the uprising.

However, a military coup last October did away with the power-sharing and upended Sudan’s fragile democratic transition, which has also faced uphill security and economic challenges since al-Bashir’s ouster. 

The top officer sentenced Monday by the court in the capital of Khartoum was Gen. Hashem Abdel-Muttalib Babakr. Three years ago, he was named chief of staff by the transitional military council that seized power after al-Bashir’s ouster…