A judge in eastern Sudan this week ordered a Christian school that government officials had taken over to resume classes under the prior Christian administration, according to the headmaster.
The Appeal Court for Administrative Affairs in Madani, Al Jazirah state, thus cancelled an order by the Madani commissioner calling for the closure of the Evangelical Basic School, which armed police along with civilians from Khartoum and elsewhere had seized on 24th October, Rev Samuel Suleiman Anglo, headmaster at the school, told Morning Star News.
“The court has ordered that the school continue to function with the current administration without interference from the commissioner,” Pastor Suleiman said. “Things are normal, thank God.”
The court delivered the final order for re-opening after ordering a temporary re-opening earlier this month, he said.
The 24th October government seizure marked the third raid on the school, following efforts to seize it on 4th October and 5th September. On 6th October, authorities jailed for four days Christian staff members who tried to prevent the seizure of the institution, which serves more than 1,000 students, ages three to 18, and belongs to the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church.
Armed police and officials from the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) on 5th September temporarily arrested Pastor Suleiman and 12 teachers at the school, accusing them of supporting the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North (SPLA-N), a rebel group fighting government forces farther south in the Nuba Mountains state of South Kordofan. Pastor Suleiman strongly denied the charge.
In the 5th September raid, police presented a letter from the National Ministry of Guidance and Endowments, addressed to the State Ministry of Social Welfare, ordering the handover of the school to the government. School administrators and teachers are ethnic Nuba – increasingly targeted by a government that has vowed Islamic religion and Arabic culture will reign in Sudan – and from South Kordofan state.
A court for administrative affairs earlier this month had responded to school officials’ pleas by ordering the immediate, temporary re-opening of the school to allow students to take exams, Pastor Suleiman said. Judge Thalot Madani Ishakh issued the court order, which allowed students to resume classes on 8th November.
The re-opening came after court hearings on 7th and 8th November. The court found that the attempt by the Madani commissioner to close down the school and appoint a Muslim teacher to run it was inappropriate, Pastor Suleiman said.
He said the school had written a letter to the government urging officials to reconsider their decision to close the school. Parents also asked the judge to request the government to reopen the school.
Pastor Suleiman said the government had appointed its own principal, a Muslim identified only as Misbah, to take over and run the school.
