Students rally against killings in Sudan’s universities

The cities of Khartoum, Omdurman, Bahri, and Port Sudan are the scene of student rallies against the killing of a student on Wednesday. Riot police and security agents use force, as well as detentions, to halt the spread of protests.

On Thursday, students of Bahri University in Khartoum North went out in demonstrations to condemn the assassination of Mohamed Sadiq, from Omdurman's El Ahlia University, this week. 

A student told Radio Dabanga that students of the University of the Koran took to the street but were confronted by members of the security service who used teargas and beat them with batons. They were chased back to the university.

At least six students were arrested, he said, and a number was injured.

On Wednesday, two students were detained from inside the morgue, after transferring Sadiq's body there for autopsy. Faris Hussein Tulow of the University of Imam El Mahdi and Kamal Arees of El Nilain University were released the next day.

Mohamed Sadiq was a student at the University of Omdurman Ahlia who also taught English Language Level II at the university’s Faculty of Arts. He was shot dead by armed students because of his speech for the Association of Nuba Mountains Students on Wednesday, that mentioned the incident in El Obeid last week that led to the killing of a university student.

Abu Bakr Hashim, a student at the University of Kordofan, was shot and killed by other students on 19 April. Reports state that a fierce clash erupted between two students movements, during the registration of their candidate lists for the student council election.

Meanwhile, Ahlia University announced its closure for an indefinite period after the deadly incident on Wednesday.

'The police are wary of the escalation of demonstrations following the murder.'

Another student reported to Radio Dabanga that the police arrested five members of the Darfur Students Association at the University of Khartoum on Wednesday evening, and released them on Thursday morning.

“They were obliged to pay a fine of SDG2,500 ($407) on charges of public nuisance,” the student said, claiming that there had been no legal action taken.

He did not rule out that the police fears escalation of demonstrations in a number of universities, following the murder of student Mohamed Sadiq. “They detained the five students while they were only returning to the university dormitories.”

(RD, photos courtesy of students in Khartoum on Thursday)

Port Sudan protests

On Thursday, demonstrations also continued at the University in Port Sudan, Red Sea, against the assassination of the two students in Sudan in the last two weeks.

A student told Radio Dabanga from Port Sudan University that security and police members surrounded a march held by the students on Thursday, and forced others to evacuate from the university's dormitories. “They used teargas, which caused injuries to a number of students. 

“A number of students took shelter in the military garrison's headquarters. That is adjacent to the university.” He praised the cooperation of the members of the military, allowing them to escape the police attacks.

The Port Sudan students also demanded the return of the of the students' union. The previous day also witnessed a student protest in Port Sudan. A dozen students were reportedly arrested, and others injured when the police confronted them in Jebeit city.

(Photo on the right: Students in Port Sudan on Thursday, RD)