Authorities in Sudan approved accelerating the trials of former regime stalwarts and their Muslim Brotherhood allies at a time dozens of supporters of ousted president Omar al-Bashir demonstrated outside the army command's headquarters in Khartoum.
The protesters – who demanded Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to step down - rallied in defiance of a ban on large gatherings to stem the coronavirus outbreak.
"Dozens arrived in front of the Armed Forces' General Command from the east, carrying signs calling for the downfall of the Hamdok government," an eyewitness told AFP.
The brief and small-scale protest was quickly dispersed by police, with army soldiers also posted at the site.
The demonstration comes a year after long-time autocrat Bashir was removed from power following large-scale protests.
The popular uprising led to the formation of a transitional political authority, comprised of military and civilian figures.
Government spokesman Faisal Saleh, in an interview broadcast by the S24 channel, ruled out the chances of Islamists returning to rule in Sudan but warned that they could carry out acts of vandalism.
“Even in the last period of their rule, they sabotaged the Sudanese state to make it difficult to manage for those who came after,” Saleh said about Islamist rule in Sudan.
One of the North African country’s supreme committees, in a press statement, revealed that authorities had discussed obstacles preventing the trial of regime stalwarts and agreed to remove them.
According to the statement, the committee convened with security apparatuses to approve a joint security plan that targets the movements of former regime figures who aim to destabilize the country.
