Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir is a Sudanese politician and former president of Sudan. He came to power as the seventh president of Sudan in 1989, after leading a military coup to oust the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi. After 30 years of dictatorship, his reign ended when he was deposed in a coup d'état in 2019. At the time of the coup, Bashir was a brigadier in the Sudanese army. After assuming power, he proclaimed himself the chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation, suspending all political parties, trade unions, and government bodies. He also banned independent newspapers and imprisoned prominent journalists and political activists.

Bashir's power grew significantly after he disbanded the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation in 1993, declaring himself president. A proud and authoritarian leader, Omar al-Bashir was often criticized for his repressive rule. When he seized power, Sudan was already in the midst of a 21-year civil war between the north and the south, and the political situation in the country worsened during his rule. His close association with Hassan al-Turabi, an Islamist politician with links to Arab militant groups, contributed to accusations of harboring and aiding Islamic terrorist organizations.

In 2009, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Bashir, accusing him of directing a campaign of mass killings, rape, and pillage against civilians in Darfur. He became the first sitting president to be indicted by the ICC. By late 2018, mass protests against his regime had spread across the country. On April 11, 2019, he was removed from power, and the government was dissolved by the Transitional Military Council, which later passed authority to a provisional Sovereignty Council and civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.