Clooney is free after one day arrest

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Clooney has been released after being arrested alongside fellow protesters. AFP photo

George Clooney has been released after being arrested on March 17alongside fellow protesters including U.S. congressmen and Clooney’s father outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C., according to TheJournel.ie.

The group was calling for greater intervention in preventing a major humanitarian crisis in Sudan. Activists have accused Sudan’s president of blocking aid and for mounting attacks on civilians.

Earlier this week, Clooney met with U.S. President Barack Obama to discuss Sudan and testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on violence in Sudan’s South Kordofan.

Police said the protesters were arrested after they ignored warnings not to cross a police line outside the embassy.

Shortly before his arrest, Clooney called for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Sudan and for the government “to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women and children.”

“Stop raping them and stop starving them,” he said.

CBS reports that Clooney was released several hours after his arrest and paid a $100 fine.

The actor joked that it was his first arrest, “and let’s hope it’s my last.”