Teachers’ trial postponed in central-east Sudan

The trial against fourteen teachers in El Gezira has been postponed on Thursday because of the absence of three court and security officials. They were arrested for staging a protest.

On Thursday, the court in Wad Madani decided to postpone the trial of the teachers next week because of the absence of the complainant, a lieutenant of the security forces and a police detective.

A teacher told Radio Dabanga that teachers had organised a protest in front of the Ministry of Education in El Gezira state late June. “They demanded better salaries and protested against the non-payment of financial dues as of 2013.”

The Sudanese security apparatus had forcibly stopped the protest. “And they filed complaints against the teachers under articles 69/77, for public nuisance and rioting.”

The teacher in the court session further reported that a number of supporters were in the courthouse, including representatives of the defence. “There were more than 20 defence lawyers, in addition to leaders and members of political parties and activists.”

The judge committed to announce the presence of the complainant and security officials at the next session and registered the names of members of the defense, after which the session was quickly dismissed.

Teachers released

Two weeks ago, fifteen teachers from El Gezira were released by the police. They were also detained for staging a protest against the closure of dozens of schools and demanding the payment of financial dues.

The Teachers Committee of El Gezira had announced the protest and called on all teachers of the state to participate in this sit-in in order to get their due rights. The Committee demanded in a protest memorandum that the minimum wage be raised in a manner that meets life requirements and achieves a decent standard of living suitable for teachers.