Sudan’s ousted longtime military ruler Omar al-Bashir has admitted to receiving millions of dollars from Saudi Arabia, a state investigator told a Khartoum court on Monday, reported Reuters.
The 75-year-old leader appeared in court on Monday to face corruption charges. He has been in detention since the military forced him out from power in April after months of mass public protests. He faces charges of corruption, receiving gifts illegally, and possessing foreign currency.
In June, prosecutors said large amounts of cash were found at Bashir’s residence after his removal from power.
“The accused told us that the money was part of a sum of $25m sent to him by [Crown] Prince Mohammed bin Salman to be used outside of the state budget,” investigator Ahmed Ali told the court.
The investigator said Bashir had admitted that he also received two previous payments of $35 million and $30 million from Saudi’s King Abdullah, who died in 2015. He added that Bashir had said the Saudi money was exchanged and spent and that he could not remember how nor did he have documents providing further details.
“This money was not part of the state budget and I was the one who authorized its spending,” investigator Ali quoted Bashir as saying.
The former president’s lawyer dismissed the allegations by the state investigator, telling reporters after the hearing it was usual for leaders to hold amounts of foreign currency.
“There is no information or evidence with regards to the accusations of illicit gains aimed at Bashir,” Bashir’s lawyer Ahmed Ibrahim told reporters, “Anyone in his occupation [has] to have foreign currency and it was in a room attached to his office in his presidential residence.”
In May, Sudan’s prosecutor general had said Bashir had been charged over killings during the anti-government protests which led to his exit.
The next session of the trial is scheduled for Saturday, August 24.
