KHARTOUM: 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 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 Defence Ministry, plus military personnel and civilians for medical treatment, Basheer said, adding that he did not know the source of the cash and was only following orders. Bashir sat in a metal cage in the courtroom wearing traditional white robes and turban. — Reuters
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