The Sudanese government has confirmed that Justice Minister Mohamed Bushara Dosa yesterday suspended the criminal case against opposition leader Farouk Abu Issa for ‘political’ considerations. The move came just four days before the national elections.
According to the state news agency SUNA, the justice minister issued a decision suspending the criminal case against Abu Issa and civil society leader Amin Mekki Medani and releasing them immediately, in accordance with article (58) of the Criminal Procedure Law.
This law gives the minister power to “suspend any case in the cases of public right, unless an initial sentences was issued by the competent court in such a case,” according to SUNA.
“The decision was adopted in on political and social considerations toward paving the way for a positive national political dialogue in the interest of the country and the people of Sudan,” reads the state news agency report.
Abu Issa and Medani had signed the “Sudan Call” document with armed opposition movements last December in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa and was arrested on arrival at the Khartoum airport upon their return. They were put on trial for ‘waging war against the state’, among other charges.