The Public Order Court in Khartoum Bahri imposed lashes and a fine on three arrested Sudanese Ba'ath Party members on Thursday. The party's spokesman said there were no lawyers present during the minute-long trial.
The party members Bashir Yaseen, Mohamed Hussein, and Mohamed Rizgallah were punished with 40 lashes and a fine of SDG100 ($17), which was immediately carried out. “The trial took place in a matter of minutes without the presence of lawyers,” spokesman Mohamed Diauddin said.
The members were arrested following the aftermath of a gathering in Bahri's central station. “This will not intimidate us,” Diauddin stressed while addressing a public gathering at Jackson Square in Khartoum on Thursday. “We will continue our mass speeches, as it is a constitutional right.”
Arrests of party members
Two members of the Ba'ath Party were arrested in Khartoum on Tuesday. Security forces had also detained four members in Omdurman on 27 April: Salah Mustafa, Abdel Gadir Ahmed, Salah Ahmed Ibrahim, and Ibrahim Ahmed Shibli in Omdurman. Late on Monday night, two Ba'ath Party membersandnbsp;were released from the Haj Yousif police station in Khartoum Bahri.
The Socialist Ba’ath Party began a public campaign against the armed conflicts in the country on Sunday. The arrests were made despite promises made by President Omar Al Bashir to facilitate a national dialogue to reunite the opposition with the government by allowing freedom of speech and gathering.
News photo: The spokesman for the Socialist Ba'ath Party, Mohamed Diaeldin, addressing a public gathering at Jackson Square in Khartoum, 1 May 2014.