Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir banned on Monday unlicensed public gatherings and protests as part of emergency decrees to counter anti-government rallies that have been raging since December.
In a statement from the presidential palace, Bashir also announced a ban on trading or hoarding fuel products and subsidized goods, plus new regulations on trading and transporting foreign currency and gold.
On Friday, he declared a one-year state of emergency, dissolved central and state governments and called on parliament to postpone constitutional amendments that would have let him seek another term in a 2020 presidential election.
Under the decrees, security forces have the right to search any building, restrict movement of people and public transport, arrest individuals suspected of a crime related to the state of emergency, and seize assets or property during investigations.
Protests first erupted in the town of Atbara on December 19 against a government decision to triple the price of bread.
They quickly escalated into demonstrations against Bashir's rule as protesters called on him to step down.
In his decrees, Bashir also authorized the public prosecutor to revoke any suspect’s immunity if they have it and to set up new courts to deal with cases related to the state of emergency.
Despite the ban, the protests have carried on, with demonstrators on Monday despite riot police firing tear gas at the crowds.
Chanting "freedom, peace, justice" -- the rallying cry of the campaign -- hundreds demonstrated in downtown Khartoum, witnesses said.
"We are challenging the regime and we are not scared of the state of emergency," said protester Erij who gave only her first name for security reasons.
"We have only one aim and that is to make the president step down."
Later on Monday, protesters also took to the streets in the Khartoum districts of Burri, Shambat and Al-Deim, witnesses said.
Burri has become a site of almost daily rallies, with protesters blocking streets and burning tires and tree trunks.
Protest organizers, an umbrella group called Alliance for Freedom and Change, had called for Monday's "rally to challenge the emergency".
Riot police also fired tear gas into the compound of Ahfad University for Women after students staged a sit-in, witnesses said.
"Police fired tear gas when some students stepped out of the campus and began chanting slogans, that's when some canisters hit the compound," a witness said.
