Region | Sudan
Sudanese murder suspects allege torture
Four Sudanese men accused of murdering a US aid worker in Khartoum told a court on Thursday they confessed to the crime under duress, their lawyer said.
- Reuters
- Published: 22:59 September 12, 2008
Khartoum: Four Sudanese men accused of murdering a US aid worker in Khartoum told a court on Thursday they confessed to the crime under duress, their lawyer said.
A fifth man facing the same charge admitted supplying the four others with weapons, but denied knowing anything about their plans, said Sadig Kaduda, the head of their defence team.
The five suspects are accused of murdering John Granville, a 33-year-old officer with the US Agency for International Development, and his driver Abdul Rahman Abbas Rahma, 39, in the early hours of January 1.
Granville and Rahma were shot dead as they drove home from New Year's Eve celebrations, a crime that sent shockwaves through Khartoum's expatriate community.
Khartoum police's chief investigator in the case, Abdul Rahim Ahmad Abdul Rahim, read out confessions he said had been made by the five defendants, Kaduda said.
Jihad plans in Darfur
Abdul Rahim said three of the defendants had originally planned to launch a "jihad" against foreigners working in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region.
"These were the statements that the investigator read out, saying they were confessions," Kaduda said. "But they were all retracted in court. The men said the statements had been extracted under torture."
The judge adjourned the case until September 21.
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