Sudan authorities detain Empowerment Removal Committee members

Authorities detained three members of Sudan’s Empowerment Removal Committee (ERC), following a breach of trust reported against them by the Ministry of Finance. The ERC leader, Wajdi Saleh, an outspoken voice and supporter of the dismantlement of the ousted Al Bashir regime, was detained alongside former Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Khaled Omar. Also, among the detained was the Secretary General of the ERC, Tayeb Osman.

Saleh said in a tweet, that he and Omar were taken into police custody, but the investigation had not begun.

Adel Khalafallah, a leading member in the opposition Forces for Freedom and Change, described these measures against the ERC members as “political, illegal, and immoral”, adding that the goal of holding the members was to only prolong their detention.

The leader of the Sudanese Congress Party (SCP), Noureldin Babiker, also stated that security forces stormed the party’s house and arrested the former minister and party leader, Khaled Omar.

Party leader in the SCP, Sidgi Kaballo, said, “We call for an investigation by fair-minded parties into recovering the funds of the ERC, without launching unproven accusations before the results are presented to the public.”

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) condemned the campaign of arrests carried out by coup authorities against political leaders and resistance committees and the raid on the SCP’s house.

The SPA said in a statement on Wednesday, that the detention of Saleh, Omar and Osman, was an effort by the coup authorities to defame the committee’s actions with reports and criminal cases, to conceal the return of ousted regime members and cancel the ERC’s progress in recouping assets.

The association’s statement also maintained that coup authorities continue to repeat acts of repression, terrorism and shooting peaceful protestors, to suppress the revolution and cease the demands for a civilian handover.