West Darfur student imprisoned, fined for stabbing NISS agent

A student of the University of El Geneina has been sentenced to imprisonment and a hefty fine for offences committed during violence surrounding bread riots in the West Darfur capital last December last year.

The Criminal Court in El Geneina on Tuesday sentenced Mubarak Abdel Hakam El Khair to one year imprisonment and a fine of SDG12,000 ($1,700) for causing grievous bodily harm by stabbing a member of the security apparatus.

The case goes back nine months to when agents of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) stormed the campus of the University of El Geneina. The NISS action resulted in the killing of student Salah Gmar and the arrest of more than fifty students including El Khair.

After sentencing, El Khair was immediately transferred to prison to begin serving his term.

Bread revolution

In December, six school students were injured during a mass protest against the shortage of bread in El Geneina.

Hundreds of basic school, secondary school, and university students took to the streets of El Geneina to protest against the lack of bread in what is since popularly referred to as ‘the bread revolution’.

Many bakeries in the capital had to close their doors because of a lack of cooking gas and the West Darfur authorities forbade them from using firewood instead.

The protesters called for freedom and the downfall of the Sudanese government.

Security troops and policemen used live ammunition, tear gas, and batons to disperse the crowd. Six students were wounded, three of them seriously. Many others fainted.