The trial of 101 Egyptian fishermen in Sudan has been adjourned to 6 August, following an earlier postponement on Thursday.
The detained fishermen are now facing new charges, and are now accused of taking photos of a military facility. They had previously being acquitted of charges of infiltrating into Sudanese territorial waters and illegal fishing.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced last Thursday that “the Sudanese authorities have released 100 fishermen who were detained previously on charges of entering Sudanese territorial waters”.
After being acquitted of these charges and gaining a prosecution release order, the fishermen were prevented from leaving Sudan and re-detained.
According to the fishermen’s association, Sudanese security authorities appealed the prosecution’s decision to release the fishermen, which was accepted on the same day.
Head of the fishermen’s association Taha El-Sheridy told Daily News Egypt last week that ministry officials said, during a meeting with representatives of the fishermen, that Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb made contact with Sudanese Vice President Bakri Hassan Saleh to discuss the issue. Mehleb has also instructed the Ministers of Agriculture and Irrigation to look in on the matter.
Minister of Irrigation Hossam Moghazy said in a press conference last Tuesday that he discussed the issue with Sudanese officials who promised to resolve the situation.
