Sentence upheld in Sudan President insult case

The Third High Criminal Court yesterday upheld the imprisonment sentence issued against a political activist for insulting the Sudanese President on social media networks. The man, who was the former Secretary-General of the dissolved opposition party, Wa’ad, was sentenced on March 13 to six months of imprisonment for defaming Sudan President Omar Al Bashir on Twitter. The defendant is said to have published insulting tweets against Al Bashir in the wake of the protests, which broke out in the country.

He was earlier summoned by the Public Prosecution for interrogation in the case, which was later referred to the criminal court, after he was accused by prosecutors of defaming the president of a foreign country on social media networks. The defendant was earlier sentenced to one year behind bars after he was tried in connection with a speech he gave in July 2015 during an event, where he encouraged the public to overthrow the government.

He was only released from jail in June, 2015, after serving four years of a five-year prison sentence. He was one of 21 men convicted in 2011 in connection with a plot to overthrow the government with help from abroad. Some were jailed for life, but the defendant was only jailed for five years.