The El Gezira and Al Managil Farmers Association has denounced the detention of the leader of the National Umma Party (NUP), Imam Sadig El Mahdi, who was taken by security authorities from his home to Kober prison in Khartoum North, last Saturday. The Association stated in a press release on Monday that it demands the immediate release of all political prisoners in Sudan. It condemned the detention of El Mahdi in the strongest terms, as “it is violating the the Constitution’s Bill of Rights, as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which were ratified by Sudan”. The farmers described the detention of El Mahdi as a “broad assault on freedoms, human rights, and El Mahdi’s right to express his opinion”. Officials of the ruling National Congress Party have said that the NUP leader is not a political prisoner, as he is facing criminal charges. File photo: Sudanese farmers practising methods of fertilizer application (ipipotash.org)Related:Detained El Mahdi warns of unrest in Sudan (19 May 2014) Farmers in Sudan’s El Gezira won’t plant cotton (27 April 2014)