Sudanese spy placed on probation by court in Berlin

The Sudanese government is stifling not only the last trace of trust among its own citizens, but it is also exposing its policies of peaceful unity with southern Sudan as a double game. This was the accusation made by the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) against the regime on Friday after the Supreme Court in Berlin sentenced a 40-year old Sudanese for espionage for the Sudanese secret service and placed him on probation for 18 months.

"The radical Islamist rulers of Sudan are showing their real face if they on the one hand form a coalition government in Khartoum with the south Sudanese and appeal to them not to endanger the unity of the country and on the other hand they systematically spy on them abroad”, criticised the GfbV Sudan expert, Ulrich Delius. "This way there will be no trust created to secure peace in the long run and to end the severe violations of human rights in Sudan.”

Not only south Sudanese living in Germany, but also human rights organisations like the GfbV have been spied on, reported Delius. The convicted man from the Sudanese Embassy in Berlin passed on information on the activities of Sudanese in exile and on several events of the GfbV. He has been living in Berlin for ten years and is now a free man once more. Since he admitted his guilt and had already spent six months in custody pending trial the sentence was commuted to probation.