Sudanese families of political detainees hold protests in Khartoum
March 30, 2019 (KHARTOUM) – Dozens of families of detainees held a protest on Saturday demanding the release of their relatives who are arbitrarily arrested for taking part in anti-government protests that have continued since last December.
More than 50 families, mostly women and children, gathered outside the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS)’s information office in Khartoum. Also, some of the protesters entered the building and sat on the ground demanding officials to respond to their calls for the release of the detainees.
One of the protesters Nema Bakri, the sister of Rabia Bakri, a leading member of the National Consensus Forces who has been in jail since last December, said the families stayed in the information building for about 3 hours while a large number were waiting outside.
“We called for the immediate release of the detainees or for a fair trial, especially as some of them have spent more than three months in detention,” she told Sudan Tribune.
She stressed that these families are determined to continue protests until the release of the last political detainee.
The exact number of people under detention is not known as a significant number of protesters have been held by the NISS, since the eruption of protests last December.
After the imposition of the state of emergency on 22 February, the government-established emergency courts sentenced the detainees with various verdicts including innocence, fines and imprisonment for varying periods.
The 2010 National Security Act (NSA) empowers security agents to detain individuals without a warrant or charges; for up to four and a half months without judicial review.
(ST)