Former president Omar al-Bashir will be referred to trial after an appeal period of one week, Sudan’s acting prosecutor general told reporters on Saturday.

 

Al-Bashir had been charged with corruption. The announcement came more than two months after the military overthrew Bashir on April 11 following months of nationwide protests against his 30-year rule.

 

Bashir “will appear in court next week following charges of corruption and possessing foreign currency,” Al-Waleed Sayyed Ahmed said, without specifying the day.

 

He added that the investigation launched against Bashir for the charges had been completed.

 

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

 

He said a team of police, army and security agents found seven million euros ($7.8 million), $350,000 and five billion Sudanese pounds ($105 million).

 

The acting prosecutor general said that 41 criminal cases have been opened against members of the former administration and they were under investigation.

 

He did not name the others accused but said most of the charges were related to the “possession of land”.

 

He also said the dispersal of the protesters was not discussed at the meeting he attended on dealing with criminals near the protest site. 

 

High rates of corruption 

Sudan suffered high rates of corruption during Bashir’s rule, ranking 172 out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index.

 

Last month, Ahmed ordered Bashir questioned over money-laundering and “financing terrorism”.

 

In an effort to quell protests that erupted against his rule in December, Bashir imposed a nationwide state of emergency on February 22.

 

In May, the prosecutor general said that Bashir had been charged over the killings of protesters during those anti-regime demonstrations, which eventually led to his ouster.