Sudan Protests V

This post will be continuously updated during the day.

Egyptian journalist Salma Elwardany (@S_Elwardany on Twitter) and blogger/activist Maha El-Senosy (@MimzicalMimz on Twitter and blogs here) was arrested by NISS while covering the protests on the 5th day and taken to an unknown location. Mimz' last tweet today said "just got stopped by NISS in front of jamaa" and Elwardany: "BREAKING: Khartoum state government dissolved, as anti-austerity unrest enters fifth day :Governor."

Update: @MimzicalMimz and @S_Elwardany was released during the afternoon, Wardany was held a bit longer and autorities have yet to determine if she will be deported or not. She lost her work permit in Sudan.

There are reports of hundreds of protesters that have been detained, mistreated and released these last few days. Protesters got their hairs shaved off, they got stripped of their clothes, flogged and left in the sun (which is not warm and nice but hot and extremely scorching) for hours.

Protests are held outside the Sudanese embassy in Cairo and people are chanting "Teer teer ya Bashir" (fly/go Bashir) and "Yasqot 7okm el3askar" (down with military reign). In Dongola, a town in North Sudan, people have joined the demonstrations. Picture below.

There's a call for Friday protests called "Friday haboob" (haboob means sand storm) against Keizan, which is the name for the fundamentalist government that rules the country. The protests are to be held "in mosques and the streets, bridge and neighborhoods" on Friday, June 22nd, after prayers:

Are you in Khartoum? I'm in need of comments/interviews and photos! You can of course be anonymous if you wish.

More here:

- The Guardian, Sudan austerity announcement sparkswidespread protests 
- Reuters, Sudan police disperse austerity protests
- Aljazeera, Student-led #SudanRevolts enters sixth day
- The Washington Post, Anti-regime protests sweep Sudan's capital; hundreds detained, mistreated, then released 
- Ahram Online, Egyptian journalist, Ahram Online colleague Salma El-Wardany, detained in Sudan
- The Seattle Times, Anti-regime protests sweep Sudan's capital

- allAfrica, Sudan Revolt Day 5 - More Arrests and More Victims

- Ahram Online, Egyptian journalist, Ahram Online colleague Salma El-Wardany, detained in Sudan
- Committee to Protect Journalists, Three journalists detained in Sudan over three days

- Blog posts and links on CrowdVoice

Sudan Protests II

Students at the University of Khartoum entered the second day of demonstrations, chanting "people want the regime down" and social media has run warm while waiting to see if this is "the real deal" or not. This is not the first time (and probably not the last) that students demonstrate against the government. Last December authorities closed down Khartoum University temporarily after more than a week of protests against the government.

The inflation in the country is currently running at 30 percent, but some economists claim it can be as high as 40, and the Sudanese people have been building up their anger against rising food prices and the government's plans to cut fuel subsidies.

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir addressed parliament around lunch, Monday, saying that the government had decided to "raise taxation and remove fuel subsidies "step by step." Furthermore, hundreds of federal and state positions will be axed and officials's salaries will be cut. Needless to say, people weren't too happy about the announcement. More on the announcement here.

Riot police has continued to fire tear gas and use batons against the protesters. There has been reports of both rubber bullets and live ammunition being fired, but the reports are yet unconfirmed. Students answered the brutality by throwing stones at the police and an unconfirmed number of protesters have been detained and taken away in trucks to police stations. Some claim they've been brought to torture chambers. As always with social media, it's difficult to know what's fact and what is rumors.

The security presence has been heavy all over the city centre and while the students at Khartoum University have had a hard time during the day (police has raided the female dorms at the campus) tweets now claim that Omdurman Ahliya University (link currently down) has joined the protests during the afternoon and that protesters are cutting off a road (video) near the Ministry of Defence.

Update: In early evening 30-40 youths have reportedly been beaten and arrested as they attended a meeting at the headquarters of New Democratic Forces Movement (HAQ) in Khartoum 2. The young activists, may of them Girifna members, were taken into trucks owned by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) and there whereabouts are unknown at the moment. Tweeps are calling for lawyers to help out.

Twitter:

@girifna

@MimzicalMimz 

@S_Elwardany

@Shamarat

#السودان_ينتفض

Photo from Twitter.

Sudan Protests I

 

I'm currently preparing myself for another round of intense blogging. Here's why:

Small demonstrations have been going on in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, for well over a year now, but now it seems to get serious as a couple of hundered students at the University of Khartoum started a demonstration on campus against high food prices. The university's website seems to be down at the moment, not sure if that has anything to do with this though.

Riot police met the protesters with tear gas and batons and the demonstration spread to city central.

Tweets and Facebook statuses claim that the situation is escalating and that a number of seriously hurt people have been brought to hospital. People are encuraging each other to hit the streets and spread information.

Are you in Khartoum at the moment? Me and the rest of the world wants to hear your stories!

More to come.