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Sudan’s Bashir: from protests to disgrace

Sudan's long-time president Omar al-Bashir was ousted in April after months of demonstrations against his regime, before being charged with corruption on Thursday.

Sudan’s long-time president Omar al-Bashir was ousted in April after months of demonstrations against his regime, before being charged with corruption on Thursday.

Here is a timeline.

Bread prices
Protests erupt on December 19, 2018, against a government decision to triple bread prices.

They quickly spread and morph into demands for Bashir to quit after three decades of iron-fisted rule.

In the capital Khartoum on December 20, demonstrators take to the streets chanting “freedom, peace, justice”.

Clashes break out as police try to disperse the crowds. Eight demonstrators are killed in two cities, the first of dozens of deaths in protest-related violence over the following months.

Hospital shooting
On January 1, some 22 political groups call for a “new regime” in Sudan.

Four days later soldiers fire bullets and tear gas as they enter a hospital in the city of Omdurman in pursuit of protesters, Amnesty International says.

“Demonstrations will not change the government,” Bashir tells supporters on January 14 during a visit to Darfur.

On January 17 a doctor and a child are killed during the demonstrations.

Three days later Bashir says the security forces have not killed any demonstrators since the start of the protests.

State of emergency
On February 22, Bashir declares a nationwide state of emergency. He swears in a new prime minister two days later, as riot police confront hundreds of protesters calling for him to resign.

On April 6, thousands gather for the first time outside army headquarters in Khartoum, chanting “one army, one people” in a plea for the military’s support.

The demonstrators defy attempts by the feared security service to dislodge them and troops intervene to protect them.

Ousted, arrested
On April 11, military authorities announce they have removed Bashir from power and that a transitional military council will govern for two years.

The next day, the new military rulers say that Bashir is in detention. They rule out his extradition on arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court to face genocide and war crimes charges.

Sudan’s military leader vows on April 14 to “uproot” Bashir’s regime, to try those who have killed demonstrators and release protesters.

Charged with killings
On May 13 the prosecutor general announces Bashir has been charged over the killings of protesters during anti-regime demonstrations.

The charges against Bashir came during an investigation into the death of a medic who was killed during a protest in the capital’s Burri district.

“The prosecutor general has recommended speeding up of the investigation of the killing of demonstrators,” the statement from his office says.

At the time the toll since December came to 90 deaths, according to protest leaders, 65 according to the authorities.

Charged with corruption
On June 13 the official SUNA news agency says Sudan’s public prosecutor has charged Bashir with corruption.

An unnamed official is quoted by the agency as saying that Bashir is facing charges including “possessing foreign funds, acquiring suspected and illegal wealth and ordering (the state of) emergency”.

In April, military council chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said that more than $113 million worth of cash in three currencies had been seized from Bashir’s Khartoum residence.

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