Man freed in Sudan convicted of 2008 murder of US USAID worker

31 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Sudanese authorities have released a man convicted of the 2008 murder of a US employee of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) from prison after he “paid compensation” to the victim’s family.

According to information collected by the Sudanese news portal Sudan Tribune, the convicted man, Abdelrauf abu Zaid, was released on Monday after nearly 15 years in prison. The man was sentenced to death along with three other people for the murder of John Granville.

Abu Zaid himself has stated that he has been released “after paying financial compensation to the Granville family”, without specifying the amount, after Washington issued official documents confirming this.

Abu Zaid went on a hunger strike a few weeks ago to denounce the conditions of his imprisonment and affirmed that he had suffered “torture” at the hands of prison guards and warned of the worsening state of his health.

Granville was killed along with a Sudanese citizen who worked as his driver. The United States has not yet commented on the decision of the Sudanese authorities to release Abu Zaid.