Human rights defender Yasir Mirghani released on personal guarantee
On 18 April 2023, the Sudanese authorities released human rights defender and head of the Sudanese Consumers Protection Society (SCPS) Yasir Mirghani on a personal guarantee. The human rights defender was imprisoned for a week on alleged charges of corruption in relation to EU funds received by the SCPS in 2012.
On 11 April 2023, the Sudanese police arrested and detained human rights defender Yasir Mirghani on corruption charges. The charges are allegedly in relation to EU funds received by the Sudanese Consumers Protection Society (SCPS) in 2012, which Yasir Mirghani is currently the head of. The state refused to release the human rights defender unless he pays a bail of EUR 264,875, a sum corresponding to the full amount of funds received by SCNP from the EU. The human rights defender remains in detention. In late 2022, the authorities annulled the registration of the SCPS over the same allegations.
Yasir Mirghani is a Sudanese human rights defender, pharmacist and head of the Sudanese Consumers Protection Society (SCPS), founded in 1998, which fights corruption and protection of the community from companies’ abuse. Yasir Mirghani is also a member of the Confederation of Civil Society which is a collation of more than 50 human rights organisations in the country.
On 18 April 2023, the Sudanese authorities released human rights defender and head of the Sudanese Consumers Protection Society (SCPS) Yasir Mirghani on a personal guarantee. The human rights defender was imprisoned for a week on alleged charges of corruption in relation to EU funds received by the SCPS in 2012.
Yasir Mirghani is a Sudanese human rights defender, pharmacist and head of the Sudanese Consumers Protection Society (SCPS), founded in 1998, which fights corruption and for the protection of the community from companies’ abuse. Yasir Mirghani is also a member of the Confederation of Civil Society which is a collation of more than 50 human rights organisations in the country.
Human rights defender Yasir Mirghani was released by the Sudanese authorities on 18 April 2023. He spent more than a week in prison after he was arrested on 11 April 2023 on charges related to embezzlement of EU funds received by SCPS in 2012.
The human rights defender was imprisoned at the Anti-Corruption Prosecution Authority’s detention centre near the military headquarters in Khartoum. The detention facility was located in one of the main confrontation zones in the recently escalated clashes in the country. The defence counsel of Yasir Mirghani called for the release of the human rights defender in a press statement, as they believed his life was in danger during the clashes. Yasir Mirghani was also reportedly denied adequate food and medication that he needed.
The defence counsel of the human rights defender also stated that the criminal complaint and charges are a malicious action by the Sudanese Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), the governmental body that lodged the complaint. The lawyers explained that HAC had previously lodged similar complaints, and after previous attempts had failed, HAC resorted to old financial records in an attempt to criminalise SCPS and its members.
Front Line Defenders is greatly concerned about the situation of human rights defenders in Sudan. In addition to threats and harassment that human rights defenders, including Yasir Mirghani, have been facing, the recent escalations in Sudan are putting defenders at grave risk of being subjected to physical violence and risk of being killed as consequences for their peaceful work.
On 11 April 2023, the Sudanese police arrested and detained human rights defender Yasir Mirghani on corruption charges. The charges are allegedly in relation to EU funds received by the Sudanese Consumers Protection Society (SCPS) in 2012, which Yasir Mirghani is currently the head of. The state refused to release the human rights defender unless he pays a bail of EUR 264,875, a sum corresponding to the full amount of funds received by SCNP from the EU. The human rights defender remains in detention. In late 2022, the authorities annulled the registration of the SCPS over the same allegations.
Yasir Mirghani is a Sudanese human rights defender, pharmacist and head of the Sudanese Consumers Protection Society (SCPS), founded in 1998, which fights corruption and protection of the community from companies’ abuse. Yasir Mirghani is also a member of the Confederation of Civil Society which is a collation of more than 50 human rights organisations in the country.
On 11 April 2023, the human rights defender Yasir Mirghani was arrested by the Sudanese police in relation to corruption charges and had his mobile phone confiscated. The Anti-Corruption Prosecution authority in Khartoum filed the charges under Article 177, the crime of criminal breach of trust, of the Sudanese Criminal Act of 1991. The prosecution is accusing the human rights defender of embezzling EU funds received by the SCPS back in 2012. The judge has set bail of EUR 264,875, a sum corresponding to the full amount of funds received by SCNP from the EU, which the human rights defender has been unable to post.
On 8 December 2022, Yasir Mirghani was arrested and questioned in relation to the same charges. He maintained that the organisation has all the required documents that verify all aspects of the upright disbursement of funds. He was released on bail on the same day.
On 8 December 2022, a statement on the matter was published by the Sudanese Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), the governmental body that manages humanitarian work carried out in Sudan.
It announced the lodging of a criminal complaint against the management of SCPS.
On 23 October 2022, the HAC cancelled the registration of SCPS and ordered the confiscation of its assets. The organisation maintains that the allegations against it are false and that they are in retaliation to its human rights work which included publishing several reports evidencing corruption in governmental institutions. It also maintains that this is retaliation for the case it initiated against telecommunication companies in connection to the internet shut down after the military coup in October 2021.
Human rights defender Yasir Mirghani was subjected to many forms of harassment by authorities in the past years which included detaining him several times, which appears to have been in relation to his human rights work on documenting and publishing corruption challenging impunity of those in official positions.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the detention of human rights defender Yasir Mirghani. It is also concerned about the decision to terminate the human rights organisation SCPS by restricting its registration. Front Line Defenders believes that the human rights defender and the human rights organisation are solely being targeted with punitive measures as a result of their peaceful and legitimate human rights work.
