Sudanese court sentences 18 Darfur rebels to death

A Sudanese court on Thursday sentenced 18 members of the Darfur rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM)/Minni Minawi faction to death.

"The court issued its ruling according to the Sudanese Criminal Law after the sentenced group were convicted on charges including instigating war against the state and threatening the constitutional order," said Mahjoub Daoud, one of the defense lawyers.

"The defense team will appeal against this ruling and we will continue litigation until its final stages," he noted.

The Sudanese authorities arrested the sentenced group in February 2014 after confrontations between the government army and the rebels of the SLM/Minni Minawi faction in North Darfur State.

On Sept. 22, the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir declared general amnesty for all members of the Darfur armed movements on condition that the leaders of those movements participate in the national dialogue which began in Khartoum in October.

The court's ruling came just few days after the collapse of the newest round of peace talks between Khartoum and the Darfur rebels in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, under the patronage of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP).

Three Darfur armed groups have been fighting the government army since 2003, including the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the SLM/Minni Minawi faction and SLM/Abdul-Wahid Mohamed Nur faction. Endit