Sudan to release some detained ERC members

April 24, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – Th Sudanese prosecution on Sunday decided to refer leaders of the Empowerment Removal Committee (ERC) to the judiciary on several charges, while it approved the release of three members on bail.

The military leaders suspended the ERC immediately after the dissolution of the transitional authority on October 25. Also, they formed a committee to review the decision taken to dismantle the former regime.

“The North Khartoum Prosecution decided to refer ERC leading members, including Mohamed al-Faki Suleiman, Wagdi Saleh and Sami Ballah, to the judiciary” Iqbal Mohamed Ali the spokeswoman of the defence lawyers committee told Sudan Tribune on Sunday.

Ali added that the charges against the detainees are the breach of trust, unjust enrichment and illegal foreign exchange trading, in addition to violation of accounting principles.

Most of the detainees are members of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), which ruled the country in a coalition government with the military leaders.

They had been arrested immediately after the coup before their release as part of the deal with former Prime Minister Hamdok in November 2021. But, they were arrested again in February on criminal charges.

Their defence team denies the charges and speaks about political manipulation of justice to discredit their detractors who want the army to hand over Sovereign Council leadership to civilians and to achieve a reform of the armed forces leading to the formation of a single army and giving control to the government over their economic activities.

The spokeswoman said that the North Khartoum Prosecution approved the release on bail of three members of the Committee: Mutwakil Bashir, Zakaria Hamza and Faris Yahya, while the authorities released only one individual.

She expected that the Prosecution office would approve the release of three others, Monday, including the former Minister of Cabinet Affairs Khalid Omer Youssif.

But she added that the Public Prosecution is procrastinating in the procedures, and pointed to a lack of clarity with the defence team.

On Thursday, the judge decided to renew the detention of 9 ERC members, including Mohamed al-Faki Suleiman, for a period of three days, according to a leaked handwritten document bearing the judge’s seal.

Al-Hadi Idris, a Member of the Sovereign Council and head of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front, on Saturday, said that some parties refuse to release detained FFC leaders.

He did not identify these parties but some reports said that the Deputy- Head of the Sovereign Council, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo Hemetti opposes this step.

The intra-Sudanese dialogue was supposed to begin in mid-April. But the military’s failure to take confidence-building measures delayed the process.