Sudanese form human ring to protect Khartoum sit-in

It was April 11 when President Omar al-Bashir was toppled by the military after 30 years at the helm.

“Freedom, freedom,” and “revolution, revolution” were chanted Monday by the discontented people forming the human ring outside the premises that also include the intelligence headquarters and the presidential residence.

Troops that had gathered around the site to remove stone and metal barriers stepped back to avoid confrontation.

Sudan’s main protest group, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), has called for reinforcements and urged people to join the sit-in and foil any attempt to disperse it.

“We hope that everyone will head immediately to the areas of the sit-in to protect your revolution and your accomplishments,” the SPA said.

It has demanded the immediate handover of power to a civilian transitional government as well as prosecution of former officials.

The sit-in began on April 6, after more than three months of protests triggered by a deepening economic crisis.

Sudan’s military formed a transitional military council to run the country after the ouster of Bashir.

Since then the head of the military council and of Sudan’s powerful National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) have both been replaced. The military council said on Monday it was restructuring the joint forces command, appointing a new chief of staff for the army and a deputy.

Top members of former Sudanese govt. arrested, sackedThe Sudanese military council has arrested senior members of the former government as part of a massive post-coup purge.

The protests against Bashir initially erupted on December 19, 2018, in the face of a government decision to triple the price of bread. The demonstrations quickly turned into a mass movement across the country against the president.