Sudan: Activist Released

On February 18, 2001, attorney and human rights activist Ghazi Suleiman was released from incommunicado detention of about 72 days. Suleiman was one of seven defendants charged with espionage and other crimes after meeting with an American diplomat on December 6, 2000. In letters and press releases Human Rights Watch called on the government to provide the seven defendants with a prompt and fair trial and right to adequate defense of their own choosing before and during trial. Ghazi Suleiman, who is diabetic, was badly beaten on the first day of detention and will be leaving Sudan shortly for treatment.