Sudanese lawyer denounces unlawful detention of protesters over sergeant’s murder

August 28, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – A lawyer in Khartoum accused the Sudanese police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office of illegally detaining eight anti-coup protesters held for the alleged killing of a military intelligence sergeant.

Between March and July 2022, police forces detained a number of demonstrators. Some of them were released, but security authorities held eight of them in jail for killing a military intelligence sergeant.

“The police and the prosecutor of the criminal investigation violated the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Chief Justice’s circular by keeping our clients in jail,” Rana Abdel Ghafar, the lawyer of the defendants, told the Sudan Tribune on Sunday.

She further said that on August 8, the court refused their demand to renew the detention of its clients until a decision by the court of appeal over their release.

“They are illegally detained,” stressed Abdel Ghaffar.

Previously, the trial judge refused to extend their detention due to the lack of evidence.

The Criminal Code gives the judge the authority to renew the detention of an accused for two weeks based on a report by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The arrest can be renewed every two weeks for a period not exceeding 6 months.

Further; in line with an administrative circular issued by Sudan’s chief justice, no defendant shall continue to be imprisoned unless the Public Prosecution has presented evidence confirming the charges against him.

According to the lawyer, the Khartoum Bahri Criminal Investigations Prosecution has no evidence against its clients accused of killing the intelligence sergeant.

The sergeant was found dead, last March, near the Republican Palace in Khartoum following an anti-coup demonstration.

(ST)