El Mahdi detention in Sudan: US Embassy expresses concern

The US Embassy in Khartoum has expressed its “deep concern” over the detention of National Umma Party leader and former Prime Minister El Sadig El Mahdi. In a press statement issued on Thursday, the US Embassy urges “the Government of Sudan to respect the fundamental human right to freedom of expression of all Sudanese citizens, as enshrined in Article 39 of Sudan’s 2005 Interim Constitution”. “In his January 27 and April 6, 2014 calls for a National Dialogue, President Al Bashir publicly pledged to increase freedom of expression. We urge the Government of Sudan to honor its public pledges, as the Government initiates an inclusive National Dialogue.” Imam El Sadig El Mahdi, the head of the National Umma Party (NUP), and former Prime Minister (1966-67, and 1986-89), was detained at his home in El Mulazimin in Omdurman, and taken to Kober prison in Khartoum North on Saturday evening. The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) filed a complaint against the NUP leader after he had strongly condemned the atrocities committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Kordofan and Darfur. He accused the NISS commanded militias of committing war crimes in Darfur, recruiting non-Sudanese nationals, and operating beyond the scope of the regular armed troops. El Mahdi was detained on charges of “disrespecting the prestige of the state, discrediting the regular armed forces, inciting the international community against Sudan, and the spreading of false news, causing unrest among the regular troops, and breaching public peace”. Kamal El Jizouli, the lawyer who accompanied the NUP leader to Kober prison, told the press on Sunday that the prosecution decided to add two criminal charges to the four charges raised against the Imam last week: “undermining the constitutional order, and calling for violently opposing public authority”. The lawyer noted that these two charges do not allow the release of the accused with a normal bail. “The punishment for undermining the constitutional order includes the death penalty.” File photo: The US Embassy in southern Khartoum (US Dept. of State) Related: ‘El Mahdi detention purely political’: followers (22 May 2014) ‘One fifth of Sudan’s militia troops foreign’: SPLM-N (22 May 2014) Press ‘warned’ in Sudan (21 May 2014) Detained El Mahdi warns of unrest in Sudan (19 May 2014) Sudan army reformists demand dissolution of militias (18 May 2014)‘Sudan government destroyed social fabric in Darfur’: El Mahdi (16 March 2014)