KHARTOUM, March 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Eight anti-government protesters were sentenced to jail in Sudan late Thursday, state media reported, the first such punishments handed down by emergency courts introduced by President Omar al-Bashir to contain rallies demanding an end to his iron-fisted rule.
The eight were among hundreds who had taken to the streets earlier on
Thursday in Khartoum and Omdurman, defying a ban on protests that first
erupted in December over bread prices and have since gained momentum and presented a major challenge to Bashir’s three decades in power.
Chanting their rallying cry of “freedom, peace, justice,” the crowds
gathered in several districts of the two cities before being confronted by
security forces with tear gas, witnesses said.
Bashir has not only banned all unauthorised rallies but also given sweeping
powers to security forces to carry out raids and personal searches as part of
the state of emergency imposed after an initial crackdown failed to quell the protests.
The eight protesters sent to jail for participating in protests were handed
terms ranging from six months to five years by three separate courts in
Khartoum set up on Tuesday to investigate violations under the state of
emergency imposed by Bashir to quell the protests.
Four of them were sentenced to five years in jail, three to three years and
one for six months, the official SUNA news agency reported, adding they had been accused of violating a state of emergency order banning participation in protests.
They are the first such accused found guilty of violating directives issued
by Bashir as part of the nationwide state of emergency he imposed last week.
In a separate statement, the Democratic Lawyers Alliance that is part of an
umbrella group spearheading the movement against Bashir’s rule said 870
protesters were produced in emergency courts in Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman on Thursday.
It said the courts dismissed cases against a large number of accused, but
scores were sentenced to jail terms ranging from two weeks to one month.
Deadly clashes surrounding protests have rocked Sudan for more than two
months, with demonstrators gathering since Dec 19 after a government
decision to triple the price of bread.
But years of anger over the country’s economic woes turned the protests
into nationwide rallies against Bashir’s rule, with people calling on him to
step down.
Officials say 31 people have died in protest-related violence so far, while
Human Rights Watch says at least 51 have been killed, including medics and
children. — NNN-AGENCIES
