Ahmed Fadl-Khartoum
Protestors in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Thursday imposed a state of emergency in the face of martial law announced by President Omar al-Bashir. Instead of a central convoy to challenge the emergency, the processions marched through the cities of Khartoum state.
A day before the Central Challenge convoy in downtown Khartoum, called for by a gathering of Sudanese professionals and its allies in opposition parties, the assembly secretariat amended the plan to pull the parties to the neighborhood.
Protesters have defied a state of emergency since last Friday and have taken thousands into the main streets of the three cities of Khartoum state, leaving the center of the capital for heavily armed army, police, security and rapid support.
It was remarkable that the military police were concentrated in more than one place to monitor the situation without intervening.
Arrests
Troops charged with riot control gave the demonstrators time to walk and cheers before their transporters arrived, and then they did not focus more on tear gas than on protesters.
The lack of gas use has, in contrast to previous convoys, raised questions among activists about the possible short supply of gas bombs to the police after protests continued for more than two months.
In the al-Sahafa district, south of Khartoum, riot police fired only limited packages of gas bombs and then focused on arresting protesters. Witnesses said the police filled four tankers with protesters.
The detainees are expected to face swift and harsh sentences in the emergency courts set up by the Attorney-General in accordance with the emergency orders issued last Monday, with a 10-year prison term for anyone who violates them.
President al-Bashir issued emergency orders throughout Sudan to ban rallies, gatherings, marches, strikes and disruption of public facilities.
The largest processions
The largest emergency convoy was on 60th Street, Khartoum's main thoroughfare, and in the Omdurman market west of the capital.
On 60th Street, which overlooks a number of Khartoum's upscale districts, hundreds of protestors supported car drivers who fired their car horns with slogans along the street "Fall Down" and "Ya Saketin Skatek Shin."
In the Omdurman market, police fired tear gas after the motorcade managed to rally and march on Dokatra Street before the authorities arrested a number of protesters and ordered traders to close their shops and evacuate the market.
Police and security forces raided the streets of the Abbasiya neighborhood of Omdurman after they dispersed a motorcade in the district, one of the most important protest areas in Khartoum state.
The appearance of the army
Hundreds of protesters in the southern districts of Khartoum (Demi, the press and Jibra) chanted slogans of "freedom of peace and justice ... the revolution of the people's choice" amid a striking participation of the young women who chanted.
According to eyewitnesses of the island Net, the tankers carrying military police personnel stationed at the intersection of the main streets without any interference.
The convoy of the district of Berri, near the center of Khartoum for about an hour than the deadline for the launch of the motorcade challenge at one o'clock in the afternoon, and attributed the activists to the security enhancements dominated by elements of the Central Reserve Police surrounded the neighborhood early.
Activists in social networking sites broadcast a video showing people in the Berri neighborhood mocking a sheep to celebrate the success of what they called "the epic day."
Along the same lines, the processions of youth were the most prevalent in the Shambat district of Khartoum, Bahri, Maamoura and Kalaklah in Khartoum and in the suburb of Haj Yousif in the east of the Nile.
Interior warns
For the first time, the Interior Ministry calls on citizens to circulate on Thursday morning to stay away from the crowd, which did not deter protesters.
Elements of the security apparatus shut down shops in downtown Khartoum early, especially the peace building, where participants were always likely to step down.
Since December 26, a group of professionals has been holding convoys to reach the Blue Nile presidential palace in order to hand over a memorandum calling on Bashir, who has been in power for nearly three decades, to step down.
Emergency
Othman Wach, secretary-general of Hizb-ut-Tahrir and Justice, a member of the Al-Wefaq government, defends emergency orders, saying it addresses an exceptional reality that requires leadership to address and cope with dire economic deterioration and riots.
"The situation in the country for more than two months has almost stopped the life and threatens the public safety, which necessitates the imposition of emergency to end the state of calcification of the official bodies from the performance of the roles assigned to the implementation of the law and activate its concern with the speed and seriousness required.
He believes that the five emergency orders are aimed at restoring calm and stability, without harming institutions and disrupting public life, both in the workplace and in the public street, without infringing on copyrights and party activities.
In contrast, a source in the professional gathering of Al-Jazeera Net said that the emergency is only an attempt by the Authority to legalize its violations against peaceful protestors.
The source pointed out that a number of protesters arrested by the regular forces in Omdurman are now facing courts that will often be sentenced to 10 years in prison "to be a lesson and a scapegoat to stop the protests."
He pledged that the gathering of professionals and his allies in the opposition would continue to organize the processions, calling on young men and women to wait for the parade schedule for next week, which will be issued hours later.