Lawyers request new autopsy of teacher who died in detention

Lawyers representing the family of Ahmed El Kheir, who was reportedly tortured to death by security service officers in Kassala in early February, have urged the supreme prosecutor of Kassala state to allow for a renewed autopsy of the body.

A team of 45 lawyers represent the family of Ahmed El Kheir, a teacher from Khashm El Girba in Kassala who was held after demonstrations in the town on January 31. Reports emerged that National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) officers had detained him from his home and taken him to a security detention centre where they brutally tortured him.

Following his death, the authorities in Kassala said that the teacher had felt sick during interrogation. Investigators found marks on the body which show that El Kheir was tortured and that the fatal complications led to his death, in detention of the security service.

Lawyers then formed a team to present the charges in the case of El Kheir, considering the method of killing him as an 'abuse of power'.

New motion

Now, a prosecution commission consisting of 45 lawyers, filed a motion to represent the family in the case. They request to ransom the body for a second autopsy and obtain medical reports about the teacher’s death.

The lawyers told Sudanese media that the responsible authorities subsequently informed the commission about the contents of the medical reports, without allowing them to take a copy of them.

The death of teacher Ahmed El Kheir formed a major theme of the current protests and demonstrations in the previous week. Starting 7 February, marches took place as part of the March for the Detainees and Victims of Torture and vigils called for by the Sudanese Professionals Assocation.