Former WIPO Director Idris Reported Arrested In Sudan

According to local press reports, the former director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization, Kamil Idris, was arrested by security forces last week in Sudan on unknown charges.

Idris, a native of Sudan, is deputy chairman of the Sudanese Committee to Defend Rights and Freedom (SCDRF). SCDRF Chairman Farouq Ahmad Adam has called for his immediate release, reports said. Political tensions are high in the country.

Idris headed WIPO from 1997 to 2008, stepping down a year early from his post when member confidence in his ability to govern the UN organisation wavered following allegations of misconduct. These were largely unproven.

He returned to Sudan, where he ran as an independent candidate in the April 2010 presidential election, in which the incumbent president Omer Al-Bashir was re-elected, the reports said.

Idris was reportedly taken into custody by the National Intelligence and Security Services on 14 June. His current status is unclear.

Local news reports are here and here.