Symposium announcers arrested in Sudan’s El Gedaref

Members of the security service detained activists who publicly announced a symposium that is scheduled for tonight, to discuss the economic crisis in El Gedaref state.

On Thursday, the Sudanese security service (NISS) in El Gedaref detained the four activists and the person that drove the symposium’s advertisement vehicle. Mustafa Sayed Khalil, an opposition leader in El Gedaref, told Radio Dabanga that they are Jafar Khidir, Anas Abdallah, Abdelraouf Abdallah and Fatahalrahman Yasir, in addition to the driver.

“Jafar Khidir was arrested on the spot when he announced the symposium amid a crowd of people on the street. The four others were arrested when they announced the symposium from a vehicle equipped with loudspeakers.”

Khalil said that opposition parties will hold the symposium in the town of El Gedaref on Friday evening, at the headquarters of the Sudanese Communist Party. “Dr. Mohamed Jalal Hashim, Dr. Sidqi Kabelou, Mohamed El Khair Mustafa, Khalid Omar Yousef and Atta Hussein Omar will address the crowd and speak about the suffocating crises in Sudan.

“We are determined to hold the symposium on time, despite the obstacles by the security apparatus.”

Also in El Gezira state, hundreds of residents took to the streets of one of the town districts of Wad Madani on Tuesday evening to demonstrate in protest against the fuel crisis, rise of prices and lack of basic commodities.

Fuel shortages across most parts of Sudan worsened towards the end of March, beginning of April. This coincided with the high inflation and local currency depreciation following macro-economic changes in Sudan’s new annual budget. This has led to high transportation costs, which in turn resulted in high prices of food and non-food items across different parts of the country.