Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir, who on Saturday was ordered detained in a correctional centre for two years for corruption, ruled his country with an iron fist for 30 years before his ouster in April.
Here are some of his key dates.
– January 1, 1944: Born to a farming family in the village of Hosh Bannaga, north of Khartoum.
– 1973: A soldier from a young age, fights alongside the Egyptian army in the Arab-Israeli war.
– June 30, 1989: As brigade commander, seizes power in an Islamist-backed coup against the democratically elected government.
– 2003: Sends troops and militia to crush a rebellion in Darfur. The conflict claims more than 300,000 lives, according to the UN.
– 2009: The International Criminal Court issues a warrant for his arrest for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. The following year it issues a warrant for genocide. He denies the charges.
– 2010: Elected president in the first multiparty vote since he took power, boycotted by the opposition. Re-elected in 2015.
– 2013: Deadly demonstrations against his government erupt after a petrol price hike.
– April 11, 2019: After four months of protests demanding he quit, Bashir is ousted by the military and detained.
– May 13, 2019: Charged over killings of protesters.
– August 19, 2019: Goes on trial for corruption.
– November 12, 2019: Charged with “plotting” the 1989 coup that brought him to power.
– December 14, 2019: Convicted of graft and “possession of foreign currency”, and ordered to serve two years in a correctional centre for the elderly.
AFP