Sudanese journalists arrested over polls coverage, rights group says

May 16, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Two Sudanese journalists have been arrested and interrogated for several hours by security authorities following their coverage of contentious elections in the country’s central state of South Kordofan, according to a local press-freedom watchdog.

The Network of Sudanese Journalists (NSJ), a non-governmental advocacy group, on Monday said that the reporter Mohamed Al-Fatih Hamah of Al-Maydan newspaper, the bi-weekly mouthpiece of the Sudanese Communist Party, and Rashan Awshi of the privately-owned daily Al-Tayyar were arrested by security authorities immediately after their return to the capital Khartoum from South Kordofan State, where they covered legislative and gubernatorial elections.

NSJ reported that the two journalists were arrested by the Sudanese army’s intelligence agents and interrogated for seven hours before being turned over to the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) which subjected them to further interrogation.

“NSG strongly condemns the arrest of Mohamed Al-Fatih Hamah Rashan Awshi,” NSJ said in a press release of which Sudan Tribune received a copy, adding that their arrest was antithetical to two articles in the press law of 2009.

NSJ further called on the Ministry of Justice to investigate the arrest of the two journalists and bring the perpetrators to account. “NSJ demands that the presidency of the republic safeguards the rights enshrined in the [country’s] interim constitution, international conventions and local laws,” the press release read.

However, NSJ’s press release failed to mention whether the two journalists were released or still in custody.

Sudan’s interim constitution of 2005 guarantees press freedom but journalists complain that the authorities often use subsidiary laws to censor newspapers and arrest reporters.

The country’s relatively free print-press, in compare to the tightly-controlled broadcast media, continues to grapple with state censorship and confiscation of copies, which causes great financial loss to newspapers.

Two Sudanese journalists were charged with defamation in March this year for writing about the alleged rape of a female activist by security agents in the aftermath of anti-government protests in January this year.

In November 2008, Sudanese authorities rounded up over 70 journalists who attempted to stage a protest outside the gates of the country’s parliament against censorship.

(ST)