Abdallah Hamdok, the ousted prime minister of Sudan, is allowed to return home, according to his office, a day after the country’s military arrested him after seizing power in a coup.
The release of Hamdok and his wife on Tuesday comes after the international sentencing of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to power. The United States has said it will suspend aid, while the European Union has threatened to do the same.
Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, also called for Hamdok’s immediate release as he called on the world power to unite to confront what he called a recent “coup d’etat epidemic”.
A statement from Hamdok’s office said the ousted prime minister and his wife were “under heavy security” at their home in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and that other civil servants arrested on the day of the coup had been detained. their places unknown.
The takeover came after weeks of growing tensions between military and civilian leaders in the course and pace of Sudan’s transition to democracy. Al-Burhan should hand over the leadership of the Sovereign Council, which is running the country to a civilian next month, a move that would have reduced the military’s power to power.
But the coup has threatened to ease Sudan’s transition process, which has progressed into varicose veins and has begun since the overthrow of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising two years ago.
On Tuesday, pro-democracy protesters took to the streets, blocking streets in the capital with makeshift barricades and burning tires. Troops had shot dead people and killed four protesters a day earlier, according to doctors.
The Sudanese Professionals’ Association, a group of unions behind the uprising against al-Bashir, also called on people to strike and engage in civil disobedience. Separately, the Sudan Popular Liberation Movement North, the country’s main rebel group, condemned the coup and urged people to take to the streets.
Sudan’s national oil company, Sudapet, responded to the call on Wednesday, saying it would join the national civilian affiliate movement. Railway workers also said they were participating in the strike.