FFC should not sign political declaration under continued repression, arrest campaigns! Arman
November 23, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – A leader in the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition, Yasir Arman Wednesday called to not sign the political declaration with the military component before the release of detainees and end of violent repression against protesters.
The FFC and the military component are expected to sign a political declaration setting out the framework for the would-be-adopted transitional constitution and the civilian government. The signing of the declaration should take place once an agreement is reached with the armed groups that backed the coup.
“It will be shameful to sign a framework agreement with the coup leaders without before stopping the violence, human rights violations and arrests and creating a suitable atmosphere,” said Arman in remarks delivered in a press conference held in solidarity with a detained leading FFC member Wagdi Salih on Wednesday.
“I call to not continue the political process before creating the suitable atmosphere, ending violence against the mass movement, and if the (military) are serious, Wagdi must be released,” he stressed.
Salih has been detained since last October on a complaint against him lodged by the Ministry of Finance. He was a member of the suspended Empowerment Removal Committee tasked with the dismantlement of the former regime.
The leader of the SPLM-N Revolutionary Democratic Current further wondered how the political process continues without a conducive environment, alluding to the continued use of violence against the anti-coup protesters.
“How can a political solution be achieved under the continued violence, the injury of large numbers of demonstrators in the November 17 demonstrations, the attack on the steering committees of the trade unions and the failure to protect civilians in the countryside,” he said.
Arman called for the escalation of mass action, stressing that the political process is not a surrender or a departure from the revolution.
“The political solution must be achieved with the participation of the mass,” he added.
The security forces killed 119 people and injured more than 8,000 in the protests against the military coup and in support of civilian rule after the October 25, 2021 coup.
For his part, a former member of the Sovereignty Council and deputy-chairman of the suspended Empowerment Removal Committee, Mohamed al-Faki Suleiman, told reporters that the case of the prominent member of the committee, Wagdi Salih, “is a political issue in which justice agencies are used to settle political scores”.
He added that the Islamists are keen to fabricate accusations against the committee members because they exposed the documented corruption of the ousted regime.
Al-Faki further criticized the Sudanese justice system, pointing out that the practices of the prosecution and the judiciary will shake confidence in the justice system.
(ST)