A group of men carrying batons and Knives believed to be supporters of the banned National Congress Party (NCP) of the former regime Wednesday stormed a workshop on a new constitutional declaration in Khartoum.
The steering committee of the Sudan Bar Association on Monday launched a workshop with the participation of political parties, armed groups and civil society groups to discuss a new transitional declaration agreed upon by all the stakeholders to form a civilian government.
The event was attended by foreign diplomats and international organisations to express their support for an initialize aiming to pave the way for the formation of a government of technocrats to implement needed reforms and hold elections.
Muntaser Abdallah, a member of the steering committee told the Sudan Tribune that the attack began after the arrival in several vehicles of a group of the dissolved bar association affiliated with the NCP accompanied by other people.
“The group started to shout slogan against the steering committing, accusing it of affiliation with the Forces for Freedom and Changes (FFC)? together with slogans against UNITAMS Head Volker Perthes,” he added.
The assailants carried sticks, batons and knives. Also, they threw stones into the hall of the workshop and aggressed the security guards, as they tried to reach the platform speakers.
After that, the police force arrived and successfully took the attacker out of the lawyers’ premises.
The Sudanese Islamists, after the coup, started to take more visible actions against the UNITAMS, the forces of the revolution.
However, this attack was the first violent action aiming to sabotage the efforts of the democratic forces to restore a civilian government.
The attack drew strong condemnation from the political forces and UNITAMS.
“Attacks on the workshop at the Sudanese Bar Association are unacceptable. People using violent means to prevent a peaceful meeting certainly don’t seek national consensus,” said Perthes in a tweet posted after the attack.
The FFC Spokesman Chehab al-Tayeb accused the security apparatus of being behind the assault, saying it was part of plans to undermine efforts to unify the civil forces.
In statements to the Sudan Tribune, al-Tayeb warned against dragging the anti-coup forces into the square of violence.
The military leaders who reinstated Islamists in the security services after the coup are accused of using the NCP elements to prevent the FFC’s efforts to reunite the forces of the revolution.
The FFC plans to present a draft constitutional declaration to the forces of revolution after its approval.
In turn, the Emergency Lawyers group said they initiated legal proceedings against those involved in the attack on the premises of the Sudan Bar Association.
The legal group said the lawyers who were among the attackers are all members of the dissolved NCP.
Source: Sudan Tribune