New appeal by Mudawi’s family for activist’s release

The family of the detained human rights activist Dr Mudawi Ibrahim demanded the Minister of Justice and the Sudanese attorney-general to stop his prolonged detention by the security apparatus.

“This way shames the Sudanese judiciary and the prestige of our courts,” Mudawi's family said in a press statement released yesterday. “This legal manipulation turns them into a mere tool of repression in the hands of the security apparatus, so it can implement and legalise its violations against people.”

The statement was addressed to the Minister of Justice and the Attorney-General, asking them to urgently intervene to expedite the proceedings of the court case against Mudawi and his companions, or instead, release them on bail until the completion of the proceedings.

“Mudawi has been detained by the judicial authorities since the transfer of his case to court. This makes them directly responsible for the violations he has suffered from, from the beginning of his his detention on 7 December last year.”

Mudawi, an engineering professor at the University of Khartoum, was arrested by agents of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) on December 7 2016. He founded and is the former director of the Sudan Social Development Organization (SUDO), and has won several human rights awards.

Hafiz Edris Eldoma, a internally displaced man from Darfur, works as Mudawi's driver and was arrested on 24 November 2016 at Dr Mudawi’s house. International organistions including Amnesty International campaign for Dr Mudawi’s release.

The European Union (EU) issued a statement echoing the concerns of the UN Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Sudan, Aristide Nononsi, in May. He stressed the length of detention and delays in the process of Mudawi and his driver Eldoma and the EU has called for their release. Nononsi: “I believe that they are being held solely for their legitimate work on protecting and promoting human rights in Sudan.”