Sudan: Police says opposition parties behind student protests

December 27, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Police authorities in the Sudanese capital Khartoum have accused unnamed political parties of being behind a recent spate of student protest.

The Sudanese Media Center (SMC), a website believed to be run by the Sudanese security apparatus, quoted the chief of police in Khartoum State, Lt-Gen Mohamed Ahmad, as saying that opposition political parties were supporting unrest inside Khartoum University.”

He further said that anti-riot police units were well-prepared and deployed to fight this phenomenon, adding that they have devised a comprehensive strategy to deal with it.

In the last week two student protests erupted at Khartoum University, prompting a police crackdown in which more than 70 students were arrested, with some charged with disturbing public order.

The first protest broke out on Thursday in solidarity with the plight of Al-Manasir, a riverine group displaced by a government dam project north of Khartoum.

In response, police forces invaded the university’s main campus in downtown Khartoum, firing teargas and beating students.

Angered by the police’s invasion of the campus and a subsequent resolution by the university’s administration allowing the police to do so, the students staged a sit-in on Sunday.

But the sit-in met a similar fate with police forces invading the campus and arresting over 70 students.

Khartoum University students have vowed to keep up the fight until their demands are met.

In a statement posted on their Facebook page, the students said that their demands that the university director resign, an apology from Khartoum State police and assurances that their forces will not enter the campus in the future.

They also demanded that the police bear the cost of treating injured students and compensate them for the loss of their properties.

(ST)