KHARTOUM: An ex-Sudanese politician wanted for alleged crimes against humanity has said that he and other former officials are no longer in jail following reports of a break-out.
Ahmad Harun was among those incarcerated in Kober jail in the capital Khartoum facing charges by the International Criminal Court, the BBC said.
A ceasefire between fighting military factions essentially appears to be holding. But there’re doubts about both parties’ commitment to a lasting peace.
The conflict, which began on April 15, arose from a bitter power struggle between Sudan’s regular army leaders and the rival paramilitary group.
Reports emerged this week of a prison break at Kober, where Ahmad Harun served a sentence alongside Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s former president.
Harun confirmed in the statement aired on Sudan’s Tayba TV that he and other fellow ex-officials who served under Bashir had left the jail but said he was ready to appear before the judiciary whenever it was functioning.
In the audio message circulating in the media, Harun claimed he and other ex-officials had decided to leave with the help of prison guards and the armed forces.
“We made the decision to protect ourselves due to lack of security, water, food and treatment, and the death of many prisoners in Kober,” Harun told al-Sudani, the daily newspaper in Sudan which is known to have ties to Bashir. Bashir was ousted by the army after mass protests in 2019 and had been serving a jail sentence for corruption.
The Sudanese military said the 79-year-old is currently at a military hospital and was moved there before hostilities broke out. The International Criminal Court accuses Bashir of leading a mass killing and rape campaign in Sudan’s Darfur region, which he denies.
Harun faces 20 counts of crimes against humanity and 22 counts of war crimes allegedly committed in the Darfur region between 2003 and 2004 when he served as Sundan interior minister. The charges include rape, murder, persecution and torture.
Harun has previously denied the International Criminal Court charges brought against him in 2007. He was arrested in 2019 following the coup against Bashir. Since then, Sudan has experienced frequent unrest and many other coup attempts.
The ceasefire in Sudan has allowed many countries to evacuate their nationals from the country.
A second evacuation flight rescuing United Kingdom nationals from Sudan has landed in Cyprus, while a boat evacuating more than 1,600 citizens from dozens of countries has now arrived in Saudi Arabia.
Volker Perthes, the United Nations special envoy to Sudan and currently in the country, said it seemed the 72-hour pause in fighting was still observed in a few parts of the country.
