Sudan Releases 25 Political Activists, But FFC Leader Are Still in Jail

Demonstrators from the Resistance committee of Almamoura area of Khartoum on Dec 28, 2021 (AFP photo)

April 22, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese authorities on Friday released 25 detainees from the leaders of the Resistance Committees the spearhead of anti-coup protests, while all the detained leaders of Forces for Freedom and Change are still in prison.

According to the Emergency Lawyers, the Suba prison authorities in Khartoum state released 25 detained protesters and kept 27 others. Also, are still in jail the leaders of the Empowerment Removal Committee (ERC) and other political activists held in Port Sudan, Debek and Aba Island prisons.

The head of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan, said last week that he had begun taking measures aiming to create a conducive environment for dialogue. He added that these steps include the release of detainees and a review of the state of emergency.

During the past months, the security authorities arrested neighbourhood leaders of the resistance committees. Also, they arrested 19 FFC leading members who are members of the Empowerment  Removal Committee, citing criminal charges.

The defence team for two FFC leaders, Mohamed al-Faki, a former member of the Sovereign Council and ERC head and Babikir Faisal leader of the Unionist Alliance and ERC member,  issued a statement denying their rumoured release.

“Reports about the release of Mohamed al-Faki and his comrades are not accurate. They are still under arbitrary political arrest,” reads a statement released on Friday.

For his part, Orwa al-Sadiq, a member of the suspended ERC, questioned the sincerity of the head of the Sovereign Council regarding his pledge to release political detainees.

He told the Sudan Tribune that the detained members of the empowerment committee are taken hostage by the ruling military authorities.

“Hemetti’s statements denying the existence of political detainees and al-Burhan pledges to release them indicate that the coup has several heads, platforms, spokespersons, political constituencies and security services,” al-Sadiq added.

So, in light of the competition between the two coup leaders, these hostages will remain cards for the political game between them, he added.

The tripartite mediation planned to launch the intra-Sudanese dialogue process this month but they are still waiting for the implementation of the confidence-building measures that al-Burhan pledged.

(ST)