May 31, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Amnesty International (AI)called on the Sudanese authorities to release a human rights activist deported from Saudi Arabia saying he is at risk of torture.

Hisham Ali (ST Photo)

Hisham Ali was deported from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, and detained upon arrival in Khartoum at the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) headquarters.

"Having been a courageous political and online activist against torture and corruption Husham Ali is at great risk of torture and other ill-treatment while in the hands of the NISS. Pending his release, he must be granted unfettered access to a lawyer of his choice and to his family," said Joan Nyanyuki, AI Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.

Hisham was arrested in Jeddah by the Saudi authorities in November 2017 upon the request of Sudanese security apparatus. He contributed to various online forums to expose government corruption and expressed his support for the November and December 2016 civil disobedience in Sudan on his Facebook page.

There are three other Sudanese had been deported to Sudan from Saudi Arabia in July 2017, Elgassim Mohmed Seed Ahmed, 52, Elwaleed Imam Hassan Taha, 44, and Alaa Aldin al-Difana. All of them had been arrested following their participation in an online campaign to support calls for civil disobedience in November and December 2016.

All of them were arrested without charges for a period between one to three months before to be released.

"They told Amnesty International that they had been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment during detention," said the human rights body.

The Sudanese authorities at the time denounced the massive participation of the Sudanese Diaspora in the civil disobedience campaign and vowed to hunt the activists.

(ST)