A decision to appoint a defendant in the murder of Sudanese teacher Ahmed al-Khair as education director in Kassala has ignited fury.
Teachers, activists, and the public voiced outrage, calling the move a direct insult to al-Khair’s family and the teaching profession.
The teachers committee said earlier Hassan Ahmed Mohamed Haroun lured fellow teacher Ahmed al-Khair to his arrest in January 2019, during Sudan’s nationwide uprising.
Al-Khair, became a symbol of Sudan’s protest movement after he was tortured to death in security detention.
His killing, under the rule of ousted president Omar al-Bashir, exposed the brutality of state repression and fuelled nationwide calls for justice.
After a public trial, several security officials were sentenced to death or imprisonment, while debates lingered over other suspects’ roles in the crime.
News that one of the accused has now been appointed to lead Kassala’s education department has revived painful memories across the country.
Teachers’ unions and activists condemned the junta appointment as a “provocation,” accusing authorities of whitewashing an individual linked to a crime of conscience.
Social media erupted with campaigns denouncing the decision, amplifying calls for accountability and a rejection of impunity in Sudan’s fragile transition.
Union leaders urged the Ministry of Education to intervene immediately with a statement that clarifies its stance and halts the controversy.
They stressed that entrusting education leadership to someone tied to the murder of a teacher undermines the integrity of the profession itself.
Human rights groups added weight to the demands, insisting Sudan must uphold transitional justice by barring suspected rights abusers from senior posts.
For many Sudanese, al-Khair’s memory remains a scar of the Bashir era, and this appointment is seen as reopening an unhealed wound.
The episode highlights the struggle between entrenched networks of power and the public’s demand for accountability, dignity, and justice in post-Bashir Sudan.
