URGENT ACTION

SUDANESE ACADEMIC RELEASED WITHOUT CHARGE

Professor Mohamed Zain Al- A bideen was released without charge on 4 March after being held incommunicado in Sudan for 15 days. He believes he was arrested for writing an article in which he crit icized Sudanese President Omar a l-Bashir.

Mohamed Zain Al-A bideen, the Dean of the College of Higher Education at the University of Al Zaiem Al Azhari in Omdurman, was arrested on 20 February by National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) agents after leaving his office at the university campus. He was taken to the NISS headquarters, where he was interrogated for an hour and a half about an article he wrote, in which he criticized Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir on the issue of government corruption and nepotism. Mohamed Zain Al-abideen was subsequently transferred to Kober Prison in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. He was detained for 15 days in a 2m x 2.5m cell, with no access to a lawyer or contact with his family. He was released on 4 March without charge.

The article he wrote was published in the daily newspaper Al Tayar . The NISS confiscated every published copy on the same day and suspended its publication on the following day. Al Tayar is believed to have been permitted to publish an edition for the first time since then on 7 March.

Professor Mohamed Zain Al-Abideen expressed his gratitude to Amnesty International and all those who took action for him. No further action is needed.

This is the first update of UA 61/12. Further information: www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR54/010/2012/en

Name: Mohamed Zain Al-Abideen

Gender m/f: male

Further information on UA: 61/12 Index: AFR 54/012/2012 Issue Date: 7 March 2012