Sudanese army says junior officer was fired for discipline problems
February 19, 2020 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese army Wednesday said that the dismissal of a junior officer was not linked to his support to the popular uprising against the former regime but was due to discipline problems.
Earlier this week, the Sudanese army retired some 79 military officers from the medium and junior ranks including Sub-Lieutenant Mohamed Siddiq Ibrahim Ahmed who was the first military to join the protests against the former regime on 9 April.
His dismissal was seen as directed against his courageous move at that critical time of the regime change process.
Activists launched calls through the social media for protests against his ousting and to call for reviewing the army command, which is often criticized by the youth since the bloody attack of 3 June on the pro-democracy camp.
In a bid to explain its decision, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) Spokesman Amer Mohamed al-Hassan for the second issued a statement on the sack of the junior army officer.
He pointed out that his statement was triggered by the officer’s defiance to the army since his dismissal which has been exploited by politicised groups to campaign against the military.
According to the military spokesman, during his six-year service in the army, Ahmed committed three offences of insubordination which the military code makes as a crime. He added the three violations were committed between 13 March to 29 July 2019.
“His file shows he had contacts with some political parties,” stressed he without elaborating. Also, he attacked police officers at a police station in al-Haj Youssef suburb of Khartoum in March 2019.
However, the Sudanese youth continued to mobilize for a demonstration on Thursday to demand the reintegration of the army honourable officers”.
They released the itinerary of the protests in Khartoum which will converge towards the Republican Palace to hand over a memorandum. They further emphasized that the rally should end immediately after the handover.
(ST)