“I’m not afraid of anyone”: Sudanese dissident arrested by army

Published on : 10/29/2021 – 18:51

Thursday evening, Nazim Sirag gave the editorial staff of Observers France 24 meetings for a telephone interview on Friday morning. When asked if he was afraid to speak to reporters, he replied: “I am not afraid of anyone”. He was no longer answering the phone on Friday.

_{“Pick-ups have publicly arrested Nazim Sirag,” said Sudanese journalist Yousra Elbagir.}

Contacted by our editorial staff, a source close to the activist’s family, who wished to remain anonymous, recounts the circumstances of his arrest:

In recent days Nazim was very active on social media, so he was targeted by the security forces for this reason. He returned home at the end of the morning. He took a shower, shaved. Then he went to a cafe in the Ryadh district.

Shortly after, soldiers in two pick-ups arrived in front of the cafe.

Their vehicles did not have license plates. They told him they were soldiers. They put him in one of the pickups and drove off.

Sudanese activists pay homage to Nazim Sirag by posting his photo on social media along with his latest Facebook post, calling for hold on in honor of Nazim’s fight.

“… All the people are behind Nazim. In every revolutionary committee there are dozens of Nazim, and the struggle will not stop even if they [la junte militaire] imprison them all. Go ahead, try to imprison the whole people if you are able ”protests this activist, close to Nazim Sirag, on Facebook.

Nazim Sirag is a pro-democracy activist well known in revolutionary circles, where he organized medical aid for the wounded in the demonstrations. But it is also known to the state police. Having done jail under the regime of Omar Al Bachir, he was arrested twice for his activism, in 2019 and in 2020, after the coup that ousted the former dictator. Live from the protests in Khartoum, he documents on Facebook and Twitter the violence committed against civilian demonstrators as well as the death toll.

Like Nazim Sirag, several activists and protesters have been arrested since the October 25 coup in several parts of the country according to local media and groups of Sudanese revolutionaries. Others, less fortunate, died that same week.

Bloody day in the north of the capital Thursday

Shocking images, filmed on October 28 in the district of Bahri-Al Shaabiya north of the capital Khartoum, show demonstrators with gunshot wounds. At least two people died the same evening: Yassine Omar a gunshot wound to the neck, and Marwan Gamal from a gunshot wound to the head.

“The armed forces are committing massacres against demonstrators, taking advantage of the internet cut. Khartoum – Bahri Al Shaabiya, a few minutes ago, live ammunition at citizens. A dead protester and several wounded, including one seriously wounded by gunshot to the neck ”, we read in this tweet posted on October 28 by an expatriate Sudanese user.

WARNING: the images contained in the tweet may be shocking

Protester with neck injuries, Yassin Omar, died of his injuries on the afternoon of October 28 in the intensive care unit of International Hospital neighborhood, according to Sudanese activist groups. “He’s a martyr [terme employé depuis le soulèvement de 2019 au Soudan pour désigner les victimes de la répression militaire, NDLR]. He was shot in the neck, shot by the armed forces. Here are the president’s directives [Abdel Fattah] Borhan, who mounted a blow on his citizens and his people who had placed their trust in him ”, protests the author of this video tour at 3 p.m. at level of this crossing by Bahri-Al Shaabiya.

According to the same source, anti-riot forces, soldiers of the regular army and the paramilitary unit Rapid Support Forces (FSR), raided the neighborhood north of the capital to remove barricades. They were chasing the demonstrators with bullets when the young Yassin Omar was injured by one of them.

During the evening of October 28, protesters rushed to hospitals in the capital Khartoum, carrying the bloody bodies of injured protesters.

The Central Committee of Doctors of Sudan called all doctors and caregivers to reach the nearest health centers and hospitals as soon as possible in order to help the injured.

_{Protesters in front of the International Hospital in the heart of the Bahri-Al Shaabiya neighborhood in Khartoum, on the evening of October 28.}

New call to demonstrate for Saturday

Despite the evening of deadly riots, the mobilization continued throughout the day of October 29, as evidenced by images shot that very morning in the same district of Bahri-Al Shaabiya. Protesters are calling for a nationwide demonstration on October 30, the goal of which is to mobilize one million Sudanese.

At least 8 dead have been recorded as of October 28, in addition to a hundred injured, according to the latest figures from the Sudanese Central Medical Committee. including 7 in critical condition. The committee qualifies, however, that it is difficult to make a reliable assessment with the internet failure and the limited resources available to doctors to survey all the victims of the army.

READ ON THE OBSERVERS >> Coup d’état in Sudan: “We will never accept a confiscation of our revolution”