Updated: 31 July 2026 17:27:43
Emergency Lawyers Call for Release of Lawyer Mohamed Ezzeldin
Moatinoon
The Emergency Lawyers group has called for the immediate and unconditional release of lawyer and human rights defender Mohamed Ezzeldin, arguing that his detention and prosecution before the Terrorism and Crimes Against the State Court in Port Sudan have been marred by serious legal violations since his arrest in May 2025.
In a statement, the group said Ezzeldins first court hearing was held on 27 July 2026, but was postponed until 19 August after the complainant failed to appear. It said the delay further prolonged his detention and violated his right to be tried within a reasonable time.
According to the statement, Ezzeldin was arrested by the Military Intelligence Special Operations Forces in Port Sudan on 10 May 2025 without an arrest warrant. He was held for two months at the forces headquarters before being transferred to a security detention facility for 18 days and later to Port Sudan Prison, where he remains in custody.
The group said he was subjected to enforced disappearance during the initial stages of his detention, with both his family and legal representatives denied contact with him, while his detention was repeatedly extended for several months before he was brought to trial.
Ezzeldin faces charges under Articles 26, 50, and 51 of Sudans 1991 Criminal Code, as well as Articles 24 and 26 of the Cybercrime Act and Article 12 of the Red Sea State Emergency Law. The charges carry the possibility of the death penalty upon conviction.
Emergency Lawyers argued that his arrest and detention violated Sudanese criminal procedure laws, stating that he was held by an authority with no legal mandate to detain civilians and that the procedural protections afforded to lawyers under the Legal Profession Act were ignored. The group said these violations, together with his enforced disappearance and prolonged detention, rendered the proceedings legally invalid and amounted to arbitrary detention.
The statement also cited what it described as credible information indicating that Ezzeldin was tortured during the first two months of his detention, including electric shocks and severe beatings. It added that he has continued to face ill-treatment and has been denied regular medical care despite suffering from diabetes, high cholesterol, and other medical conditions that have reportedly worsened during his imprisonment.
The group welcomed the intervention of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, who has publicly expressed concern over the case and urged the Sudanese authorities to drop the charges and release Ezzeldin. It also called on UN human rights mechanisms, the African Union, and regional and international bodies to continue monitoring the case.
Emergency Lawyers said the case reflects what it described as an escalating pattern of targeting lawyers, human rights defenders, and anti-war activists through arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, and politically motivated prosecutions, undermining the independence of the legal profession and the rule of law.
The group called for Ezzeldins immediate release, the dismissal of all politically motivated charges, urgent access to medical treatment, an independent investigation into his arrest, detention, enforced disappearance, and alleged torture, and accountability for all those responsible. It also held the Sudanese authorities fully responsible for his physical and psychological wellbeing and for any further deterioration in his health while in custody.
