Defence of Sudanese human rights defender ‘resorting to judiciary’

The defence team of human rights defender Dr Mudawi Ibrahim who has been detained by the Sudan’s security apparatus without charges since 7 December last year, will attempt to shorten the investigation time by resorting to the judiciary, and transfer the file directly to court.

“Mudawi has now spent almost five months in detention. That must have been enough time for investigations into his case,” Nabil Adib, head of the defence team told Radio Dabanga on Sunday.

By the end of March, the prosecutor-general issued a decision to release Dr Ibrahim, a university professor and founder of the Sudan Social Development Organisation (SUDO), on bail. Last Thursday, however the attorney-general cancelled the decision.

Dr Ibrahim was not interrogated throughout his detention, until he was brought to the NISS prosecution in late February. It is still not clear what the charges are. State-controlled newspapers and websites have accused him of “collaborating with foreign entities” earlier this year.

Disruption

“All that is currently being done by the prosecution, prompted by the security apparatus, is a disruption of the procedures because they have no evidence to condemn Dr Ibrahim,” lawyer Adib said.

He argued that in response to the prosecutor's decision to reject the release of the human rights defender, the defence will attempt to shorten the investigation period by transferring the case directly to the court. “The judiciary has the authority to monitor the investigations and the prosecution.”

‘Heavy bail’

According to the attorney-general on Thursday, “the decision of the prosecutor-general to release the defendants Dr Mudawi Ibrahim and Hafiz Idris has been rescinded because of the heavy bail.”

Idris, a human rights activist and head of the Youth Association of the North Darfur camps for the displaced, was held during a visit to the home of Dr Ibrahim in Omdurman a few days before the detention of Dr Ibrahim.

The ruling on Thursday also cancelled the prosecutor-general’s decision to cancel the indictment against lawyer Tasneem Ahmed Taha, who was detained by security officers on 26 December in relation to Dr Ibrahim’s case, and released on 12 March. The attorney-general issued an order to re-arrest her and ordered the attorney-general to return her file to the prosecution to complete the investigation. and notify the parties of the decision.