Trial of ‘severely beaten’ detainee deffered as prominent Sudanese activist released on bail

Wajdi Saleh, a leading member of the mainstream Forces for Freedom and Change for the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party, was released on bail on Sunday, meanwhile, a trial of four young men accused of killing a police officer was adjourned. 

On Sunday morning, the trial session of Mohamed Adam, nicknamed Tupac, and three other young men accused of killing a police brigadier during demonstrations in January was adjourned because Adam showed serious signs of beating. 

Adam, Mohamed El Fateh, Musab El Shareef, and Ahmed El Fateh were detained on January 14 on charges of killing a police officer and were subsequently subjected to torture in detention, including severe beatings and electric shocks and were denied medical aid. 

Adam, who was brought to the court in chains on Sunday, "showed severe signs of beating on his head and legs, and his mouth was bleeding." When the court judge ordered the guarding police officers to unchain him, they said they left the key in Kober Prison. He was beaten in the notorious Kober Prison, according to a press statement by Adam’s defence team following the adjourned session. 

Judge Zuheir Abdelrazeg ordered Form 8* to be filled out and for Adam to be transferred to hospital. He set the date for the next session on Sunday, December 11. 

The defence lawyers have requested for the four men to be transferred to Soba Prison because of their ill-treatment in Kober Prison. 

In June, the protestors' poor treatment inside Kober Prison sparked controversy, not only because of the torture the teenagers were subjected to but also because of inconsistencies in the police statements. 

Saleh released 

Despite being released after the prosecution ratified the bail for two previous complaints against Saleh, his defence team was surprised to see a new complaint lodged against him.  

Adel Khalafallah, spokesperson for the Ba’ath Party, told Radio Dabanga that the new complaint related to the confiscation of hundreds of vehicles without a legal basis by the Empowerment Removal Committee** (ERC). 

Jihan Abdelwahhab, Saleh's wife, told Radio Dabanga that he would not be released until late Sunday. 

Saleh was chair of the ERC, established by the government of Abdallah Hamdok in late 2019 to purge Sudan of the remnants of the Al Bashir regime. In an interview with Radio Dabanga last month, spokesperson for the Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council (FFC-CC), El Wasig El Bereir, said that it would not be possible to sign any kind of agreement before releasing Saleh and other political activists, including resistance committee members. 

*In Sudan, the medical evidence of an assault is admitted solely via the so-called Form 8. Police stations or approved hospitals and clinics issue it. 

**Empowerment (tamkin) is the term with which the ousted government of Omar Al Bashir supported its affiliates by granting them far-going privileges, including government functions, the setting up of various companies, and tax exemptions.