16 July 2020; MEMO: The Sudanese State of Law and Development Party revealed on Wednesday that a military intelligence force arrested the party leader, Mohamed Ali Al-Jazouli.
The party added in a statement: “Al-Jazouli was arrested by the military intelligence, as part of a security campaign launched by the authorities to silence oppositionists, block different opinions and righteous voices.”
The statement continued: “The State of Law and Development Party has performed well in revealing conspiracies being plotted against the country, including internal security threats aimed to shake the country’s stability, as well as regional and international interventions.”
“The party has continued its activities against the recent legal distortions, and organised demonstrations in front of the Ministry of Justice for the third consecutive day, in rejection of these amendments that contradict with Islamic legislation,” according to the statement.
The statement indicated that the party: “Promised that the coming Friday will be a Friday of anger in mosques in rejection of the amendments made by the Ministry of Justice.”
As of 11:15 GMT, there was no official comment from the authorities nor the army in Sudan on the party’s statement.
In early July, the Sudanese army denied information provided by Al-Jazouli about the existence of what he described as “a racist project to divide the country,” designed by “extremist secular parties, political forces and armed movements with regional support” to invade the city of Khartoum, strike the leadership of the armed forces, and make arrests in army ranks.
In the same month, the State of Law and Development Party strongly criticised legal amendments approved by the Ministry of Justice, including allowing non-Muslims to drink alcohol, repealing the apostasy law, abolishing the use of public flogging as punishment and prohibiting female genital mutilation.
The party considered that these amendments constitute a “war on morals” and come within the efforts to “obliterate the country’s Islamic identity.”
On 11 April, 2019, the army leadership ousted Omar Al-Bashir, under the weight of popular protests that began in late 2018, denouncing the deteriorating economic situation.
On 21 August, 2019, a transition period of 39 months ending in elections commenced in Sudan, during which power is shared by the army and the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), leader of the popular protests, along with a transitional government.
