Sudan: Hundreds protest student getting death sentence

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Protests erupted in the Sudanese capital Khartoum Sunday against a death sentence on a university student convicted of killing a policeman last year.

After a court on Sunday gave the death sentence to university student Asim Omer, hundreds of his supporters protested in front of the courthouse as well as downtown.

The demonstrations also spread to the main campus of Khartoum University amid clashes between police and protesters.

Police used tear gas and batons to suppress the protests, but there were no casualties reported.

‘Politicized’ sentence

An alliance of Sudanese opposition parties has condemned the court verdict, calling it a “politicized” sentence that violated proper procedures.

On Aug. 29 the Khartoum North Court found Omer guilty under Article 130 of Sudan’s panel code.

Last December, Omer was arrested and charged with killing a policeman during clashes with the police and security forces at the main campus of Khartoum University that April.

Widespread civil disobedience was seen in Sudan in protest of government austerity measures that lifted subsides on fuel, medicine, and electricity.

Khartoum was accused of killing 200 protesters in September 2013 amid nationwide protests after the lifting of the fuel subsidies, but the government denied the claims, saying the casualties numbered no higher than 80.