A Czech aid worker, Petr Jašek, 52, detained in Sudan since December, 2015, has been pardoned and freed by President Omar Bashir – after the Czech Foreign Minsiter Lubomir Zaoralek visited Sudan on the weekend to seek his release.
He has flown back to Prague with the Foreign Minister on Sunday.
World Watch Monitor has heard from some of his friends, who have wept with relief at the news.
On 22nd January, Mr Jašek was sentenced to 23-and-a-half years after being found guilty of various charges, including spying. He was also fined 100,000 Sudanese pounds (around $US15,000) for undertaking NGO work without a permit.
Two other men sentenced with him – a Sudanese church leader, Hassan Taour, and a Darfuri graduate, Abdulmonem Abdumawla – were each sentenced to 12 years, their major “crime” being “aiding and abetting” Jašek in his alleged spying. One of the years was for “spreading rumours that undermine the authority of the state” (even though the legal maximum penalty for this is six months in prison).
Lawyers for the men have lodged appeals for their release.
More than 400,000 people signed a CitizenGO petition seeking Jasek’s release.
