As per sources, the forces of Sudanese security arrested the senior opposition leader on Tuesday because officers fired tear gas with the intent to stop thousands of protestors who were rallying against 2021’s military coup.
The protest has been going on since October 25, from the time when military takeover led by army chief ‘Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’ followed by a broadening crackdown on civilian and pro-democracy figures in the northeast African nation.
As per the medical department, at least 85 people have been killed till now, and security forces have injured hundreds during more than four months of protests. They were demanding civilian rule and justice for those who were killed in a protest.
On March 8, security forces fired tear gas, a barrage of acrid tear gas at crowds that were heading toward the presidential palace, and many were injured.
The ruling Sovereign Council is established at the palace along the Nile river in Khartoum.
The protest, which was held on Tuesday was, overlapped with International Women’s Day.
That crowd carries slogans in order to support Sudanese women- especially those who have played a key and essential role in the recent protest movement and in rallies that paved the way to the 2019 ouster of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.
“Long live the ‘Kandakas,'” the crowd yelled with the name of ancient Nubian queens.
On the north side of Khartoum, witnesses witnessed many waving national flags, or some were carried posters of fellow protests killed.
On that day (Tuesday), the prominent leader and politician ‘Babiker Faisal’ was arrested while attending a funeral in North Khartoum, said Sudan’s Unionist Alliance, a pro-democracy political party.
Faisal was a committee member charged with recovering properties seized during Bashir’s three-decade rule before he was toppled and jailed.
In February of the same year, several other senior committee members were arrested. Mohamed al-Fekki was a member of Sudan’s Sovereign Council before he was ousted in the October coup.
Since the military takeover, authorities have blamed the committee for misappropriating funds it seized, accusations its members deny.
The military grab the power derailed a transition to full civilian rule bargained between military and civilian leaders following Bashir’s ouster.
As per the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, as per their estimation, 1000 people have been arrested since the coup, including women and children.
According to UN human rights chief ‘Michelle Bachelet,’ the Sudanese authorities must stop using excessive force and live bullets against protestors and demand the release of detainees.
Hers was the latest such call from UN figures and the US. According to medics, the most recent protester killings occurred on February 28, when two died.
