Nyala, July 25 (Darfur24)
Authorities in the Founding Alliance (TASIS) in Nyala, South Darfur State, have released two doctors who were arrested by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intelligence earlier this month.
Last week, an emergency court in Nyala sentenced Dr. Ibrahim Tawil and Dr. Mutaz Omar to one year in prison and fined each of them approximately seven million Sudanese pounds, while granting them the right to appeal the ruling.
Sources told Darfur24 that the doctors were released following the intervention of a senior official in the Nyala administration.
The sources said the release was carried out without enforcing either the one-year prison sentence or the fines imposed by the court.
RSF intelligence arrested the two doctors earlier this month after they issued a medical referral for the wife of an RSF defector to receive treatment in an area controlled by the Sudanese army.
Dr. Ibrahim Tawil manages the Immunity medical clinic in central Nyala, while Dr. Mutaz Omar works at several hospitals and health centres across the city.
Residents told Darfur24 that several government hospitals and health facilities in Nyala have stopped issuing medical referrals for critically ill patients to areas under army control.
Medical sources, however, stated that no official directive has been issued by the local authorities to ban such referrals. They added that hospital administrations operating under the RSF’s civilian administration have nonetheless refused to issue transfer letters for patients seeking treatment in areas under army control.