Sudanese police announce details of officer killed during anti-coup demonstrations

Sudanese police announce details of officer killed during anti-coup demonstrations
Suspects allegedly confessed to the killing of a Sudanese police officer during anti-coup protests, police said Wednesday
2 min read
26 January, 2022
The 13 January killing of the police officer was the first security personnel fatality since the anti-coup demonstrations began [Getty- archive]

Sudanese police said Wednesday that suspects had been arrested in the killing of a police officer during anti-coup demonstrations that have continued in the country.

The alleged killing happened on 13 January during a protest in the capital, Khartoum, police said in a statement, as it pledged to reveal "all crimes against demonstrators and regime forces."

The interior ministry had previously announced the arrest of one suspect in the killing of Brig. Ali Bareema Hamad and the apprehension of four others.

The police officer's death was the first fatality in the ranks of security forces since the latest wave of protests began in October, while dozens of protesters have been killed.

In a statement on Tuesday, the police claimed an unspecified number of suspects confessed to the crime after being interrogated, and showed them the tools they used to kill the officer.

"After searching their hideouts [residences], sums of foreign currency [US dollars] and military equipment [including knives] were found," the statement read.

Society
Live Story

It added that those arrested re-enacted the crime, where the officer was "stabbed with a knife in his left arm and his back, which caused severe bleeding that led to his death as he was being transported to hospital."

Sudan has been rocked by protests calling for civilian rule since a 25 October military coup led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

The military takeover derailed a power-sharing transition between the military and civilians that had been painstakingly negotiated after the 2019 ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

The crackdown on anti-coup demonstrations has left nearly 80 people dead and hundreds wounded, according to a Sudanese doctors committee.