Khartoum court acquits five Darfuri students

The Criminal Court of El Doroshab in Khartoum North acquitted five Bahri University students on Sunday. They were charged with disturbing the public order and rioting in December last year.

On 22 December, a large force of policemen and security agents raided the Kadaro compound of the Bahri University in Khartoum North, and violently broke up a political meeting, organised by the Darfur Students Association. According to reports at the time, a number of students were injured, and dozens were detained. The forces also searched houses in the neighbourhood rented to Darfuri students.

The students had organised the meeting to discuss the eviction of at least 48 Darfuri students for not paying tuition fees, and the university administration’s ban on wearing African dress and a particular style of haircut.

Three days later, the forces stormed the campus again, this time supported by militant student members of the ruling National Congress Party. Again a number of Darfuri students were beaten and detained.

In a statement on Sunday, the defence team of the Darfur Bar Association (DBA) announced that Judge Mohamed Jaafar Mamoun dropped the charges filed by the National Intelligence and Security Sevice (NISS) against Salah Abdallah Ahmed, Abdallah Ibrahim Seifeldin, Abdellateef Ali Hassan, Ahmed Adam Mohamed Abakar, and Mohamed Khater Idris.

“81 Darfuri students were subjected to trial at El Doroshab Criminal Court,” the DBA reported. “It was proven during the trials that the charges had no legal basis. The rulings confirm the fairness of the judges, who adjudicated the criminal proceedings.”

According to the Darfuri lawyers, the “abusive and fabricated facts, brought in against those innocent students, expose the regime's blatant exploitation and abuse of the law”.