Barricades remain across Sudan capital ahead of protests today

The streets of Khartoum, Khartoum North (Bahri), and Omdurman, remained barricaded for the second consecutive day, in anticipation of marches that are expected to attract more than a million people to the Sudan capital, and other major cities today. Traffic and travel have ground to a virtual standstill across the three major cities in Khartoum state, as protestors erected barricades of stones and burning tyres in response to a call by the Resistance Committees in the state over the last two days.

Fadhil Omar, a spokesman for the resistance committees in Khartoum, described the blockades as a symbolic act to show the level of public support, desire, and determination, “to bring down the putschists with all available and innovative peaceful tools”.

In an interview with Sudan Today on Radio Dabanga, he confirmed that “the regime is trying to distort the process of protest in the capital by employing its means and media and some of its loyalists who support the coup.

Concerning the memorandum of coordination of the resistance committees for the UN and African envoys, the spokesman, Fadil Omar, told Radio Dabanga that the discussion is underway on the memorandum at the level of all committees in order to reach a collective opinion that will be announced at the time through the channels of the various resistance committees.

Port Sudan

In eastern Sudan, the security services authorities in Port Sudan in the Red Sea state arrested Omar Tariq Baraka from the Port Sudan Resistance Committees and a photographer in front of his house in the city on Tuesday, due to his participation in last week’s demonstrations.

Defence lawyer Mohamed Abdel Hamid told Radio Dabanga that Tarek and the others were accused in a report of damaging an armoured vehicle to the police.

He explained that the value of the damage was estimated at 2,2 billion, two hundred and fifty-six thousand pounds. He referred to the accused, Tariq, who is now detained at the Central Police Department, Port Sudan. He stated that they had submitted a request to convert the guarantee into a regular guarantee or to write off the report, but the procedures are still in progress.

In addition, the Department of Public Education in Khartoum State dismissed a number of school principals and interrogated them due to the strike announced by the Sudanese Workers’ Committee. Doria Muhammad Babiker, a leader in the Workers’ Committee, told Radio Dabanga that the State Education Department in Khartoum has dismissed a number of school principals and is now threatening and interrogating the labs because of Implementation of the declared workers’ strike.

Babiker explained that they expected this move by the putschists. She stated that the dismissed teachers did nothing but exercise their constitutional right to strike.