Sudan’s SCoP demands speedy trial for jailed leader
September 8, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP) on Monday asked the judiciary to set a date for the trial of its leader, Ibrahim al-Sheikh, who has been detained since June.
In a statement on Monday, the SCoP expressed concern over the lack of any signals from authorities that its leader would be brought to a fair and speedy trial.
“In spite of transferring the party leader to al-Obeid prison [in North Kordofan state] a week ago, he has neither been notified of the name of the judge who will look into the charges filed against him nor the date of the trial session,” the statement read
The statement stressed that the SCoP legal sector warned against compromising al-Shiekh’s legal and constitutional rights, saying the party and its leader are facing direct and indirect pressures to force him to issue an apology for remarks he made on the government militia in exchange for his release.
It said the judiciary also began to exercise the same pressures under the pretext that they bear significant financial burden for purposes of securing Al-Shiekh’s personal safety.
Al-Sheikh was rushed to the Police Hospital in Khartoum last month following a significant deterioration in his health before he was sent back to Al-Nuhood prison and on to Al-Obeid prison.
The SCoP reiterated its refusal for issuing an apology or backing down from statements against RSF, adding that the statements neither constitute a crime under any law in force in Sudan nor violate principles and rules of political action according to the law of the political parties.
It stressed that al-Shiekh’s trial is a political trial that “seeks to wear a legal dress, but to no avail”.
Meanwhile, the SCoP said that security services arrested the chairman of its chapter in North Kordofan state town of Um Rawaba, Hatim Mirghani Abdel-Rahman, at midnight on Sunday.
(ST)