Umma Party celebrates ruling against members

The criminal court in Khartoum North sentenced an opposition party member to six months imprisonment, and another to paying a fine, for causing panic among the Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Service.

Meanwhile dozens of members and affiliates of the National Umma Party celebrated the ruling at the headquarters in Khartoum. The party's co-Vice President, Maryam El Sadig El Mahdi, described the sentence as “a pride, because the judge said that both have caused intimidation and panic among the security service”.

Umma Party member Emad El Sadig was sentenced to imprisonment for six months anda fine of SDG10,000 ($1,629), while his brother Erwa El Sadig was sentenced to a year imprisonment and a fine of SDG20,000 ($3,257).

The case of Emad goes back to 14 December 2015, when the NISS filed a complaint against him on charges of offending the security apparatus, along with disclosing its confidentialy sites, and vowing to assassinate staff members, through articles they published in social media sites.

Emad's brother Erwa was arrested on 6 January 2016, on the same charges.

Detention of party leader

In May 2014, the Umma Party saw its leader, El Sadig El Mahdi, detained by the NISS for denouncing the Sudanese paramilitary force and accusing the militias of committing war crimes in Darfur. El Mahdi was released in June.