Protests against Sudanese Congress Party head’s detention

Hundreds of people demonstrated in En Nahud in West Kordofan today in protest against the detention of the head of the Sudanese Congress Party (SCP), Ibrahim El Sheikh. During the court session on Thursday morning, the judge announced that the file against El Sheikh had been withdrawn temporarily at the demand of the plaintiff, the security forces. The police and the security forces used tear gas and batons to disperse the demonstrators who had gathered outside the court in En Nahud this morning in support of the detained party leader.El Sheikh was detained by security forces on Sunday after he had publicly denounced the widespread attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on civilians in Darfur and Kordofan. A court session was scheduled for 9am on Thursday. Speaking to Radio Dabanga from En Nahud, SCP spokesman Bakri Yousif said that the security forces detained protesters Salma Nur Yasin, Khuloud El Amin, and El Shazli Ahmed. A senior official of the SCP youth department, Nur El Din Ibrahim Babakar, was severely beaten, and had to be transferred in a critical condition to a hospital in En Nahud. Security forces also besieged the residence of El Sheikh and that of his brother Abdallah, preventing anyone to leave or enter the houses. The University of West Kordofan was surrounded too. The central market of En Nahud was closed, Yousif added. Death penalty Sati El Haj, head of the defence team, told Radio Dabanga that they were surprised to hear during the first court hearing this morning that the prosecutor had taken the file against their client. The defence thereupon requested the return of the file to the court, but the prosecutor refused, saying that the plaintiff, the security apparatus, had demanded the file, in order to add new details. El Haj stated that this procedure is unlawful and explained that “the aim of the security apparatus is to keep the head of the SCP detained as long as possible, in particular as the charges filed against El Sheikh are punishable by the death penalty, and do not allow for the release of the accused on bail”. Main photo: People protesting against the detention of Ibrahim El Sheikh in front of the En Nahud court early this morning – see more below (all pictures by Radio Dabanga) A crowd gathers outside the court in En NahudIbrahim El Sheikh’s defence teamProtest against SCP leader’s detentionProtest against SCP leader’s detention Riot police in En NahudRelated: Student members Sudanese Congress Party detained in West Kordofan (12 June 2014)  Sudanese Congress Party members and journalist detained (11 June 2014)