Sudanese court sentences three men to hand amputation for stealing gas cylinders

For the first time in almost a decade, the Sudanese court has sentenced three men to hand amputation for stealing. All three men in their 20s were convicted of stealing gas cylinders in Omdurman, Guardian reported.

Halting the transition to democracy, the verdict was handed down two weeks ago but came to light now, which will worry many in Sudan who fear sliding back into state extremism, almost 15 months after the military coup that established the country.

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The three men were also sentenced to three years in prison for mischief and have been fined 2,000,000 Sudanese pounds ($3,538) as compensation for the theft.

For now, they have been taken to Koper prison in north Khartoum, where the sentence is yet to be carried out on an unspecified date.

The men's lawyer Samir Makeen said, "unfortunately, despite the political change in the country, nothing has changed in terms of the rights of the people, it was a change on the surface."

After the verdict was announced, the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies in a statement accused the Sudanese authorities of not giving the three men a 'fair trial.'

It said, "without legal representation, [with the] failure of the court to explain to the accused the gravity and penalty of the offences and the reliance of court on the confessions as the only evidence to convict the accused”.

The Koper prison holds Omar al-Bashir, the former president of the country who was ousted in 2019 after a public uprising.

(with inputs from agencies)

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