Sudanese authorities carried out on Wednesday a massive arrest campaign against leaders of Resistance Committees.
They also released leading member of the National Congress Party (the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan) Anas Omar and several leading members of the now banned party, which is headed by ousted president Omar al-Bashir.
Authorities also transferred the prominent leader of the Sudanese Professionals Association, Taha Osman, to a prison south of Khartoum.
Omar and the NPC members were originally detained on charges of undermining the constitution and opposing authorities with criminal force. They would have been sentenced to death had they been convicted. They were released over lack of evidence.
Retired officers were also among those released.
Meanwhile, lawyers confirmed on Wednesday that the security services had detained political activists from the Resistance Committees, the spearhead of the anti-coup protests in the country.
The crackdown on protest leaders took place as the military leaders had recently pledged to take the needed measures to create a conducive environment for dialogue, including ending the use of violence, releasing political detainees and lifting the state of emergency.
The lawyers stated that the security authorities raided the homes of protest leaders and arrested them, preempting any political action they may have been organizing.
They noted that the detention is reminiscent of the practices of the ousted regime.
The statement revealed that a security force stormed the home of Rasheed Abash’s family in Khartoum April 11. When they did not find him, they arrested his cousin, who was ill, and told the family they would release him when Rasheed turned himself in.
