Aberdeen’s Sudanese community held a protest against the country’s military dictatorship, which has led to 100 people dying in protests.
In October 2021, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan seized power and since then Sudan’s economic situation has worsened, with foreign governments cutting aid to the African country.
Dozens of people attended the protest at Aberdeen’s Marischal College, with protests happening nearly every week in the nation since the coup.
Protests on anniversary of coup
Protestors held placards and Sudanese flags, as the protests took place on the anniversary of the 1989 coup, which toppled the country’s last elected civilian government.
It is also on the anniversary of protests in 2019, which demanded that the generals who had removed Sudan‘s former leader from power in a coup earlier that year cede power to civilians.
Prior to the coup, a mixed civilian-military transitional government led the country.
‘Standing in solidarity with them’
Attending the event in Aberdeen was Nadir Freigoun, a Sudanese man who has lived in the north-east since 1997, he said:
“So here in Aberdeen, we’re just standing in solidarity with them (Sudanese people), just to tell them that we’re here and we’re thinking of them, and we’re praying for them.”
Protests are expected to take place across Sudan today, with large crowds taking to the streets of the nation’s capital Khartoum.
Conversation