Sudan will prosecute Bashir but wont hand him over to ICC, military says

Sudan will prosecute Bashir but wont hand him over to ICC, military says

Sudan’s ruling military council will prosecute deposed President Omar al-Bashir but will not extradite him, a military officer said Friday.

In a press conference, the head of transitional military council’s political committee Lt. General Omar Zein Alabedin vowed to try Bashir, forced out of power in a military coup on Thursday morning, and said that the army would help pave the path to democratic transition.

Bashir faces five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague in connection with Sudanese military actions in Darfur between 2003 and 2008.

The United Nations human rights office called on Sudan on Friday to cooperate with the ICC.

“We do encourage the authorities in Sudan to fully cooperate with the ICC.

“There is a Security Council resolution as far back as 2005 calling on the government of Sudan to fully cooperate with and provide assistance,” UN human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a Geneva press briefing.

The ICC issued two arrest warrants for Bashir, first in March 2009 and then in July 2010. It now considers him to be “at large.”

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Sudan Bashir International Criminal Court.

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