A court in northern Sudan has sentenced six police officers, including the head of criminal investigations in Northern State, to death for torturing a detainee who later died from his injuries.
The Public Prosecution said the Dongola General Criminal Court convicted the officers of jointly committing intentional murder under Articles 21 and 130 of Sudan’s 1991 Criminal Act, as amended in 2020.
The ruling was issued in criminal case No. 3066 of 2024 by a court headed by Judge Nizar Ahmed Abdallah.
Those sentenced were Lieutenant Colonel Nizar Ahmed al-Hassan, director of criminal investigations in Northern State; Sergeant Elias Abdel Rahman; Corporals Mohamed Abdel Rahman and Khalid Yasir; and police privates Mosaab Abdel Rahman and Rami.
According to the prosecution, evidence presented during the trial showed that the officers assaulted and tortured a detainee inside the Criminal Investigation Department’s holding cells in Dongola, causing injuries that led to his death.
The prosecution said investigators completed their inquiries before referring the case to court, where evidence was presented establishing the six officers’ criminal responsibility.
Police Major Ammar Abdallah al-Khadir, who was tried alongside the other defendants, was acquitted after the court found insufficient evidence linking him to the killing.
The death sentences were issued as qisas, or legal retribution, under Sudanese law. The verdicts are preliminary and remain subject to review by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court before they can be carried out.
Authorities have not publicly identified the victim or disclosed when he was detained, why he was being held or the specific methods of torture used.
The case comes amid persistent allegations of abuse and mistreatment inside Sudanese detention facilities. Rights groups have repeatedly called for greater accountability for security personnel accused of torturing detainees and extracting statements through coercion.
