Sudanese protesters demand justice for those killed in 2019 sit-in

Protesters gather outside army headquarters in Sudan's capital Khartoum on May 11, 2021.   -  
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ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP or licensors

There’s fury among Sudanese youth as they gathered Tuesday evening outside the army headquarters in Khartoum.

They were demanding justice for the protesters who were killed during anti-government demonstrations in 2019.

The protesters held banners and photos of the victims as they cried out for justice.

Mother of Mohamed Hashim Mattar, a protester killed in 2019, accused the regime of being behind the killings.

"We accuse Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (commander of Rapid Support Forces), his brother Abed al-Rahim Hamdan Daglo and the Rapid Support Forces militia of committing the crime of dispersing the sit-in, during which they killed, burned, destroyed and spread corruption", she said.

Holding various devices to provide light in the dark, protesters seem determined.

Leaders of the march outlined further steps to be taken in the month of July.

"After the third day of July, we will announce the start of an open revolutionary escalation and announce its schedule and actions, during which we will use all our innovative peaceful weapons. We will then announce the launch of the justice revolution", the mother added.

The protests began just minutes before iftar, the evening meal breaking fast during the holy month of Ramadan for Muslim faithful.

It marked two years following the bloody dispersal of mass sit-in outside the army headquarters in the Sudanese capital.

Approaching the end of Ramadan in June 2019, armed men in military uniforms violently dispersed the sit-in.

At least 128 people died in the days-long crackdown, according to medics linked to the protest movement.

At the time, the ruling generals denied ordering the bloody dispersal, and called for an investigation into the incident.

A committee was launched late 2019 to look into the events, but it has yet to finish its work.

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