EU Urges Sudan to Investigate Violence Targeting Protesters

Sudanese demonstrators carry a wounded man during a protest demanding civilian rule in the "Street 40" of the Sudanese capital's twin city of Omdurman on January 4, 2022. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese demonstrators carry a wounded man during a protest demanding civilian rule in the "Street 40" of the Sudanese capital's twin city of Omdurman on January 4, 2022. (Photo by AFP)
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EU Urges Sudan to Investigate Violence Targeting Protesters

Sudanese demonstrators carry a wounded man during a protest demanding civilian rule in the "Street 40" of the Sudanese capital's twin city of Omdurman on January 4, 2022. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese demonstrators carry a wounded man during a protest demanding civilian rule in the "Street 40" of the Sudanese capital's twin city of Omdurman on January 4, 2022. (Photo by AFP)

The European Union has urged Sudanese leaders to investigate the violence targeting protestors in the country, following the October 25 military takeover.

“The EU reiterates the need for independent investigations into all deaths and associated violence, and calls for the perpetrators to be held accountable,” it tweeted on Friday.

“Attacks on hospitals, detentions of activists and journalists and communication blackouts, must also stop,” it added.

Sudanese security forces shot dead three protesters on Thursday during the latest mass demonstrations demanding a transition to civilian rule after a coup, medics said.

The latest killings bring to 60 the death toll in a security clampdown since the October 25 military takeover, said the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, which is part of the pro-democracy movement.

Khartoum State’s health ministry said security forces raided Arbaeen Hospital in Omdurman, attacking medical staff and injuring protesters, and said the forces besieged Khartoum Teaching Hospital and fired tear gas inside it.

In a statement, Sudanese police said the demonstrations “witnessed a deviation from peacefulness and cases of aggression and violence by some demonstrators towards the forces present,” citing a number of injuries among police and armed forces.

The statement also said that three people had been arrested for the killing of two citizens in Omdurman and that 60 suspects were arrested overall.

The Forces of Freedom and Change coalition, which had been sharing power with the military before the coup, called on the United Nations Security Council to carry out an investigation on what it described as intentional killings and raids of hospitals.

In Khartoum, protesters tried to reach the presidential palace but security forces advanced toward them, firing frequent volleys of tear gas.

Some protesters wore gas masks, while many wore medical masks and other face coverings and several brought hard hats and gloves in order to throw back tear gas canisters.



Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
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Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)

A Tunisian court on Tuesday handed jail terms of 12 to 35 years on high-profile politicians, including opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi and former security officials, a move that critics say underscores the president's use of the judiciary to cement “authoritarian rule”.

Among those sentenced on charges of conspiring against the state in the major mass trial, were Nadia Akacha, the former chief of staff to President Kais Saied, local radio Mosaique FM said. Akacha who fled abroad received 35 years.

Ghannouchi, 84, veteran head of the Islamist-leaning Ennahda party, was handed a 14-year term.

Ghannouchi who was the speaker of the elected parliament dissolved by Saied, has been in prison since 2023, receiving three sentences of a total of 27 years in separate cases in recent months.

A total of 21 were charged in the case, with 10 already in custody and 11 having fled the country.

The court sentenced former intelligence chief Kamel Guizani to 35 years, former Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem to 35 years, and Mouadh Ghannouchi, son of Rached Ghannouchi, to 35 years. All three have fled the country.

Saied dissolved the parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree, then dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges, a move that opposition called a coup which undermined the nascent democracy that sparked in 2011 the so-called “Arab Spring” uprisings.

Saied rejects the accusations and says his steps are legal and aim to end years of chaos and corruption hidden within the political elite.

Most opposition leaders, some journalists, and critics of Saied have been imprisoned since he seized control of most powers in 2021.

This year, a court handed jail terms of 5 to 66 years to opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers on charges of conspiring as well, a case the opposition says is fabricated in an attempt to stamp out opposition to the president.