Darfuri protesters sentenced in quick court case

A criminal court has charged sixteen university students for carrying out a protest in El Gezira, without them having an attorney. The sentence, 40 lashes for each accused, was carried out immediately after the verdict on Thursday.

The Wad Medani court also sentenced the sixteen students from Darfur to paying a fine of SDG200 ($29.75) for inciting riots this week. The verdict was issued without them being able to claim the right to counsel, a student in El Gezira told Radio Dabanga.

The students from the University of the Holy Quran staged a protest on Tuesday against their university’s refusal to exempt students who originate from Darfur from paying tuition fees. Five of the accused students are still in prison for lacking the money for the fine.

Exemption from universities' tuition fees for Darfuri students was one of the conditions of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur. Holy Quran students demonstrating for the implementation of this measure were dispersed by a security force and tear gas on Tuesday.

Students expelled

The council of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Kordofan University, El Obeid, has recommended to remove the names of 40 students from its list. The council said that the students have not completed the registration procedures within the specified time.

The council stated in a letter that the decision includes 26 students of the Medical Laboratories, eight of the Faculty of Health, and six of the Faculty of Nursing. 25 of them are private enrolment students and there are 15 public enrolment students.