A Khartoum court has dropped charges against 56 Dafuri students who had been arrested after holding political meetings.
The students had been charged with disturbing the public order and jeopardising public safety.
Defence lawyer Tajeldin Siddig of the Darfur Bar Association (DBA) told Radio Dabanga that the El Doroshab Criminal Court on Wednesday acquitted the University of Bahri students due to lack of evidence.
On 22 December, police and security agents raided the university’s Kadaro compound and violently broke up a meeting of the the Darfur Students Association. A number of students were injured, and dozens were detained.
The students had been discussing the eviction of at least 48 Darfuri students for not paying tuition fees, and the university administration’s ban on wearing African dress and a particular style of haircut.
On 25 December, the forces stormed the campus again supported by student members of the ruling National Congress Party. More Darfuri students were beaten and detained in that incident.
File photo: Albert González Farran/Unamid (Students at the University of El Geneina, West Darfur)
Reporting by Radio Dabanga