Lawyers rally against Sudan’s campaign of arrests

Hundreds of lawyers protested in front of the Supreme Court in Khartoum to demand the release of the unlawfully detained people and called for the strengthening of the rule of law on Wednesday.

One of the lawyers, Manal Awad Khojaly, she told Radio Dabanga that the security service arrested Abubakar El Hadi during the demonstration, which lasted for nearly an hour. Several hundreds of lawyers voiced their demands and called for the provision of basic rights for Sudanese citizens, including education and health.

Security agents beat El Hadi before they threw hem in their vehicle. A El Hurra TV channel correspondent, his cameraman, and their assistant-cameraman were detained. Their equipment were seized.

Khojaly reported that agents did not allow participants in the protest to take photos. Posters the demonstrators carried were seized too. A video of the strike did appear on social media.

Opposition members held

Human rights organisation Amnesty International released a call for urgent action regarding the at least 23 members and leaders of the Sudanese Congress Party who have been arrested by the Sudanese intelligence service this month. “Their whereabouts are unknown. They are at risk of torture,” the statement reads.

The party has joined the protests against the recent rise in fuel, electricity, transport, food, and medicine costs which are a result of the new austerity measures and now more than 20 members, including chairman Omer Yousef El Digair, have been detained by the NISS. “They have had no access to their families or lawyers.”