Sudan pardons, releases Czech Christian activist

The Sudanese government has pardoned and released Czech national Petr Jašek, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for espionage at the end of January.

Christian activist Jašek, who was sentenced together with a Nuba priest and a Darfuri student, has been pardoned by decree of Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir, to coincide with a visit by the Czech Foreign Minister to Khartoum.

The official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reports that First Vice-President, Lt. Gen. Bakri Hassan Salih, received a message of thanks from the Czech government on Sunday for the presidential pardon. Jašek is to accompany the Czech Foreign Minister back to Prague.

In a press statement, Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour said that the Czech Foreign Minister referred in his message to the historic relations between the two countries, indicating that the release of the Czech national “marked the opening of a new chapter in the relations between Sudan and the Czech Republic, and a real start for cooperation between the two countries.”

Ghadour highlighted coming visits of Czech parliamentarians and business delegations to Sudan to review horizons of cooperation and investment in different fields, especially in the agricultural, agricultural manufacturing, minerals, higher education and petroleum fields.

Jašek’s co-accused, Rev. Hassan Abdelrahim Kodi, and Darfuri student and activist Abdelmunim Abdelmoula, are both serving 12-year sentences and are still in prison.