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The deposed Sudanese leader, Omar al-Bashir, was seen Sunday in public for the first time since his ouster, as he was traveling by armed convoy to the prosecutor's office.
The former strongman, who led his nation of East Africa with an iron fist for three decades, was overthrown on April 11 after weeks of protests against his reign.
Dressed in a traditional white dress and a turban, Bashir rode in a heavily armed convoy from the infamous Kober prison in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, for interrogation by prosecutors on allegations of corruption.
Prosecutor Alaeddin Dafallah told reporters after Bashir's departure that the deposed president had been informed that he was being prosecuted for "possessing foreign currency, bribery and receiving gifts illegally".
At the same time, a senior official of the new ruling military council has promised that those who carried out a deadly crackdown on an iconic protest site that left dozens of dead earlier this month would be punished with death.
"We are working hard to bring to justice those who have done this," said Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the ruling military council, in a speech broadcast live on state television.
"Anyone who has committed a fault" will be held responsible, added Dagalo.
According to witnesses, thousands of protesters who had camped outside Khartoum's army headquarters for several weeks were violently dispersed by armed men in military uniform.
According to doctors linked to the protest movement, more than 100 people were killed that day in Khartoum, while the Ministry of Health estimated 61 deaths in the country.
Protesters and witnesses accuse the dreaded paramilitary group led by Dagalo, the rapid support forces, of badaulting the protesters.
Protesters and US officials called for an independent investigation into the crackdown.
On Thursday, the spokesman of the military council, General Shamseddine Kabbashi, expressed his "regret" for the repression.
But the council insists that he did not order the dispersal, saying that he had in fact planned to purge an area near the protest camp where people would sell drugs.
Kabbashi said the results of a death investigation would be released on Saturday.
"The planning of the operation of Colombia (region) was carried out by the military and security authorities," said the council in a statement released Saturday night.
"We badure you that the board is committed to investigating the facts minute by minute through its investigating committee."
Bashir came to power during a coup d'etat backed by Islamists in 1989.
Sudan experienced high levels of corruption during its reign, ranking 172nd out of 180 countries in Transparency International's 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index.
When he imposed the state of emergency on February 22 with the aim of suppressing protests that erupted in December over exorbitant costs, Bashir issued a decree making it illegal to possess more than $ 5,000 in foreign currency.
But in April, the head of the military council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said more than $ 113 million worth of money in three currencies had been seized from Bashir's residence after his overthrow.
A team of police, military and security agents discovered seven million euros ($ 7.8 million), $ 350,000 and five billion Sudanese pounds ($ 105 million). millions of dollars).
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