This archive report was first published on 7 September 2019.
On September 7, 2019, a defence witness testified that Sudan's ousted leader Omar al-Bashir gave over $5 million to a paramilitary group, backing claims made by the autocrat at a previous session of his graft trial.
Bashir was deposed by the army in April 2019 following months of protests against his iron-fisted rule.
At the trial's fourth session, the defence team presented two witnesses, including a former aide, who appeared to back the ousted leader's claim.
General Yasser Bashir told the court that Bashir gave "five million euros" ($5.6 million) to the country's Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group.
The funds were picked up in cash by Abdelrahim Daglo, the brother of RSF commander Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, the deputy head of the military council that took over after Bashir's ouster.
"They did not give me a receipt," General Yasser Bashir added.
Before Bashir's ouster, Sudan had played a key role in supporting the regional interests of Saudi Arabia and its allies, with the autocrat overseeing a major foreign policy shift that saw Khartoum break its decades-old ties with Shiite Iran.
