The trial of Sudan’s former president, Omar al-Bashir, over a military coup more than three decades ago has been adjourned until mid-September.
A hearing that was broadcast on Sudan’s state TV was held amid tight security in the capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday.
The 76-year-old Bashir seemed to be in good physical condition as he appeared in the courtroom in a metal courtroom cage wearing white prison-issue clothes.
Giving his profession as “former president of the republic,” Bashir said he was currently resident in Khartoum’s Kober prison.
Some of Bashir’s former associates also appeared alongside him at the trial.
After procedural questions and a debate about coronavirus precautions, the presiding judge declared that the hearing would be “adjourned to September 15.”
If convicted, Bashir and the co-accused regime figures could face the death penalty.
In 1989, Bashir, a brigadier at the time, seized power in a coup that toppled the elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.
Bashir’s rule was marred by multiple accusations of maladministration and abuse of the country’s resources.
Bashir, who was himself ousted in a coup in April following months of nationwide protests against his iron-fist rule, faces several other judicial cases and was charged in May last year with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters.
Sudan has pledged to hand him over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face trial on war crimes and genocide charges related to the 2003 Darfur conflict, which left 300,000 people dead and millions displaced.
Sudan is now ruled by a joint military and civilian sovereign council, which is tasked with overseeing a transition to complete civilian rule and implementing reforms, as demanded by the protest movement.