The previous day, prosecutor Julian Nicholls had demanded the maximum penalty for the enthusiastic, energetic and effective perpetrator of abuses carried out in the western Darfur region. Prosecutors say that among his crimes, Abd-Al-Rahman killed two people with an axe. You literally have an axe murderer before you, Nicholls told the judges in The Hague, as Abd-Al-Rahman looked on. Only a life sentence will serve the interest of retribution and deterrence.
The United Nations secretary-general has called for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan's Darfur region after a deadly drone attack on Friday killed more than 70 worshippers in el-Fasher, expressing grave alarm about the rapidly deteriorating situation. The fighting must stop now, Antonio Guterres said in a statement issued by his spokesperson on Saturday, urging the warring parties to engage in dialogue and provide humanitarian corridors, with the brutal civil war wracking the nation in its third year.