Thursday March 6, 2025
Yasir Arman
Kenyan police have detained Sudanese opposition politician Yassir Arman, leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement Revolutionary Democratic Current (SPLM-RDC), after he arrived by air in Nairobi, acting on an Interpol warrant requested by Sudan, Sudan Tribune has learned.
In late September 2024, Attorney General Al-Fateh Tayfour announced the pursuit of leaders of the Coordination of Civilian Democratic Forces, or Tagadum, against whom arrest warrants were issued on charges of collaboration with the Rapid Support Forces in the war that began on April 15, 2023. He confirmed that the list includes former Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and several leaders of the anti-war civil coalition.
Sudan Tribune has learned that the Kenyan police stopped Arman upon his arrival at the airport and informed him of an arrest warrant issued for him. He was then detained in a hotel in the city pending an investigation into whether the charges are criminal or political.
Arman was transferred to a hotel in Nairobi after contacting parties who communicated with Interpol in Nairobi.
Sudan Tribune has seen a copy of a letter from the Sudanese Public Prosecution requesting Arman’s extradition to the Sudanese government for investigation into alleged violations of Sudanese law and international humanitarian law.
Arman had arrived in Kenya to meet Western diplomats about developments in Sudan, part of a regional effort by Sudanese civilian groups.
The recently formed anti-war coalition of civil forces, known as Smoud, rejects both the military-led government and a move by the Rapid Support Forces and some political groups to form a parallel government.
On September 24, the Legal and Human Rights Committee of the Coordination of Civil Democratic Forces, or Tagadum, announced that it had submitted an official memorandum to the General Secretariat of Interpol and the Commission for the Control of Interpol Files (CCF), demanding that the request submitted by the Port Sudan Prosecution to issue a red notice against a number of its leaders, led by former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
The memorandum stated that the accusations against these leaders were political and malicious and included allegations of undermining the constitutional order, genocide, and inciting rebellion.
The Sources urged the Kenyan authorities to release Arman immediately and thwart the Port Sudan government’s attempts to use international law to prosecute its political opponents.