Port Sudan court postpones protesters’ hearing

The Criminal Court of Port Sudan on Sunday postponed its first hearings of the chairman and four members of the People’s Committee for the Defence of Schools in Port Sudan. The Court postponed the hearing to 26 June because one of the accused did not appear, a member of the Committee told Radio Dabanga. The police had filed a complaint related to “unlawful assembly and rioting” against the chairman of the Defence group, Ja’afar Abdel Gader, and members Adam Mohamed Ali Silal, Mubarak Hussein, Osman Mohamed Ali, and Muhamed Ishag. Port Sudan witnessed various demonstrations in May, against the policies of the Red Sea State’s Governor, and the deteriorating living conditions. People are particularly angry about plans to sell four historical schools in the city’s centre and use the plots for business investment by the Red Sea State government. File photo: Port Sudan citizens protesting against the sale of four schools, 5 May 2014 (Radio Dabanga) Related:Interrogation of protester, strike continues in Port Sudan (27 May 2014) Growing discontent in Port Sudan: activist interrogated (26 May 2014) Citizens derail Governor’s rally in eastern Sudan (21 May 2014) Protests in Port Sudan against sale of schools (19 May 2014) Students arrested in Khartoum, flogged in Port Sudan (14 May 2014) ’Million signatures campaign’ to remove governor, protests in eastern Sudan (6 May 2014)