Sudanese court jails Al-Jazeera Journalist for one month

KHARTOUM, Sudan, April 10, 2004 (AP) — A Sudanese court sentenced al-Jazeera TV’s Khartoum bureau chief to one month in prison Saturday for reporting false information and obstructing customs officers in their duties.

Ibrahim Salih told The Associated Press from inside his court room cell that he will appeal the sentence. He was also fined $400.

The charges relate to a December 2003 incident when Sudanese authorities say customs officers went to the Khartoum office of the pan-Arab satellite station to investigate tax evasion allegations.

The court alleged that Salih obstructed the customs officials in their duties and subsequently produced a story that said Sudanese security forces had raided his office.

“I think this a purely political trial,” Salih said. “They just wanted to find an excuse for what the security (authorities) have done when they arrested me.”

Salih said the government wanted to “incriminate me and silence a free voice.” Authorities ordered the station closed in December.

The AP wasn’t immediately able to reach al-Jazeera executives for comment.

The station, based in Qatar, is a rare independent voice in the Middle East, a region where governments closely monitor and control most forms of local media.

The station has extensively covered the activities of Sudan ‘s opposition parties, including the Popular Congress, whose leader, Hassan Turabi, was arrested earlier this month in relation to an alleged coup plot against President Omar el-Bashir.

Sudan has a history of suspending newspapers and detaining journalists. In August, el-Bashir declared that state censorship of newspapers would be lifted. But press restrictions have remained in place.