Reacting to news that Sudanese human rights defender Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam has been released from prison and all charges against him dropped, Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, said:
“It is a great relief that this awful chapter has drawn to a close. Dr Mudawi, a prisoner of conscience, has been reunited with his family and is once again a free man.
“Dr Mudawi’s eight months in prison represent a grave miscarriage of justice and his release must serve as a first step towards ending the criminalization of human rights work in Sudan. The authorities’ relentless assault on any form of criticism endangers anyone who dares to speak out, and it must stop.”
Mudawi was released, along with five other human rights defenders, late on 29 August. He faced six trumped-up charges, including ‘undermining the constitutional system’ and ‘waging war against the state’, both of which carry either the death penalty or life imprisonment. All charges against him have been dropped.
For more on Amnesty International’s campaigning for Dr Mudawi, please click on the links below:
Sudan: End the miscarriage of justice against Dr Mudawi and his colleague
Sudan: Arrest of leading human rights activist underscores crackdown on dissent
For more information, please contact Elizabeth Berton-Hunter, 416-363-9933 ext 332 bberton-hunter@amnesty.ca
