PCP member released from Sudan prison after 12 years

Yusuf Mohamed Saleh Libis, a member of the Popular Congress Party (PCP), was released from Kober prison on Sunday evening after serving more than 12 years on charges of participating in a coup attempt in 2002. Libis arrived at his home in the suburb of Ed Hussein, south of Khartoum, amid tears and cries of joy from his relatives and children. Leaders of the PCP, among them Secretary General of the party, Hassan El Turabi, arrived to congratulate him. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, the head of the party’s Justice and Human Rights Secretariat, Hassan Abdullah Hussein, described the release of Libis as “overdue”, saying that his release was supposed to happen more than a year before, after complying with the legal conditions of release. He pointed to the fact that he had already been released and was returned to prison without reason. The PCP Secretary of Political Affairs, Kamal Omar, told Radio Dabanga that the decision to release Libis was taken suddenly, noting that Libis has been “in custody for 12 years without justification”. The authorities have ruled sentences against more than 10 members of the PCP, ranging from five, ten to 15 years, on charges related to participating in a coup attempt.Some of them have completed their detention period, some others were released five months ago on a Presidential amnesty, while Libis remained in prison.