3 Opposition Figures Lashed in Sudan

Three leading figures of a small Sudanese opposition group were given 20 lashes Monday after a court found them guilty of disturbing the peace, their party said.

The court convicted Sudanese Congress Party vice president Mastour Ahmed Mohamed and top officials Assem Omar and Ibrahim Mohamed, and the punishment was meted out even before defense lawyers had arrived, party spokesman Bakri Youssef said.

Youssef said the sentence -- the first of its kind against the opposition since President Omar al-Bashir came to power in 1989 -- was carried out in Omdurman, the twin city of capital Khartoum.

The three party members had called before a crowd in an Omdurman marketplace in April for the release of 12 jailed colleagues.

Most opposition groups boycotted a Sudan presidential election in April that Bashir, 71, won with ease.