Sudan’s Bashir bans protests in new emergency measures
New steps come amid fresh protests calling for the president to go
Khartoum — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has banned unlicensed public gatherings and given sweeping new powers to police in a series of emergency decrees to counter the most sustained anti-government street unrest of his 30-year rule. The decrees came amid fresh protests in the capital Khartoum, where security forces used teargas against hundreds of students demonstrating inside the campus of the country’s oldest women’s university. Security forces were given the power to search any building, restrict movement of people and public transport, arrest individuals suspected of a crime related to the state of emergency, and seize assets or property during investigations. Prosecutors were given the authority to strip people such as MPs and military officials of immunity, and set up special emergency courts. Publishing news that “harms the state or citizens, or calls for undermining the constitutional system” was also banned on punishment of up to 10 years in jail. Bashir also announce...
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