Arrests in Blue Nile’s Communist Party continue, Sudan

The secretary-general of the Sudanese Communist Party in Blue Nile state was arrested in Ed Damazin on Wednesday, one week after a leading figure of the party was detained, the son of the secretary-general said. “The police did not allow my father to take his medication with him,” he stressed. In total, three party members are currently held in custody. The party members are held on charges of ‘undermining the constitutional order’, ‘spreading false news’, and ‘endangering the safety of the state’. Suleiman Ali, secretary-general of the Communist Party in the state, was arrested Wednesday, his son Abu Bakr reported to Radio Dabanga. The police arrested the leading figure Ibrahim Musa on 31 October, and Adil Mohamed Kiryazi has been held for more than one month. Print shop owner Adil Fadlala and a worker at the shop were also arrested, for the distribution of a public statement by the Communist Party on the golden jubilee anniversary of the ‘October Revolution’. The three charges against the Communist Party members are punishable by death by execution, or life imprisonment, besides the confiscation of funds. Abu Bakr told Radio Dabanga that the arrested were taken into police custody, but later transferred to the prison in Ed Damazin. The prison director, however, did not approve to detaining them. They were sent back into the custody of the police on Thursday, he said. Bakr stressed that his father has a disease, but that the police administration did not let Suleiman Ali take his medication with him. “The security service carries the full responsibility for my father’s health and the other arrested people,” Bakr declared, urging the authorities to take the party members to court or release them immediately. File photo: Ed Damazin, capital of Blue Nile state (archive) Related: Sudanese Communist Party members detained in Blue Nile (3 November 2014)