KHARTOUM: A Sudanese court upheld a death sentence on Monday against four men convicted of murdering a US diplomat and his driver in Khartoum last year in a New Year’s killing that shocked the city.
The four, described by the prosecution and witnesses as “religious extremists”, were condemned to hang for shooting and killing John Granville, 33, who worked for the US Agency for International Development, and his driver, Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama.
Granville was the first US official to be killed in Khartoum for more than 30 years. He was returning home from New Year celebrations on Jan. 1, 2008, when he and Rahama were shot in a crime that shocked Sudanese and expatriates in the capital.
“Under Islamic Shariah and Sudanese law, all religions, nationalities and ethnicities are considered equal,” Sidahmed Al-Badri, the judge, said.
The sentence was reviewed because of procedural problems but the judge said it was confirmed because Granville’s family, from Buffalo, New York State, had requested it. Rahama’s family had pardoned the accused but his wife wanted the death penalty.
