Convicted demonstrators receive lashes

People taking part last week in a demonstration against a Sudanese government order to move an Easter service from central Khartoum have been convicted and flogged. Up to 53 Christians were flogged after they were convicted of rioting over the order to move the services, the Sudane Council of Churches (SCC) said on Friday. Those convicted received between 15 and 20 lashes, and up to 20 days in prison, international news agencies said. Officials from the SCC told journalists that four women and two children were among those punished, and that no defence lawyers were present. The demonstrators were almost all from the predominantly Christian south. The Christians were arrested on Tuesday 10 April while protesting against an official order to transfer an Easter ceremony to a smaller venue in the Khartoum suburbs. Church leaders said it was difficult to move the service with such short notice, and that the alternative venue was unsuitable. Interior Minister Maj-Gen Abd al-Rahim Husayn later said the ceremony was licensed to be held in a closed place, rather than a public square, and had been moved for security reasons to avoid possible sectarian clashes, the Associated Press (AP) said.