Sudanese reporters demand release of four journalists

June 19, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese journalists on Tuesday demanded the release of four colleagues detained by authorities last week, saying the move represented yet another attempt by the government to stifle press freedom.

The four were arrested on their way to cover protests against the construction of a new dam in the Kajbar area in Northern State.

Sudanese journalists expressed “deep anxiety over the recent increase in incidents of harassment against journalists during the course of their work aimed at preventing them from carrying out their duty”, in a statement addressed to the president.

It described the arrests as a “flagrant violation of the interim constitution, the press law and international conventions on human rights”.

Rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday at least five other people had been arrested over opposition to the dam, including two lawyers and a university professor.

Sudanese journalists urged President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to immediately order the release of their colleagues, prosecute those responsible for their arrest and ensure that reporters were protected from such detention in the future.

The four detainees work for the independent al-Sudani and al-Ayaam newspapers, opposition al-Rai al-Shaab and Islamist al-Wan. State security officials declined to comment.

“The arrest of the journalists was a breach of their right to free access to information,” Mohammed Latif, deputy editor of al-Sudani told Reuters.

“It was an attempt by the government to cover up what happened … and prevent the public from finding out about it.”

Police clashed with demonstrators in Kajbar during last week’s protest, killing four.

Their deaths angered the locals who say the government did not consult them on the dam project, which they say would force them from their villages and harm the environment.

Northern State Governor Mirghani Saleh on Tuesday defended his government’s actions and accused opposition parties of inciting the people against the project.

In a video conference with reporters organised by the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA), Saleh said: “The people had unanimously accepted feasibility studies on construction of the dam that have been going on since 1995.”

He blamed opposition politicians for inciting the protests, saying they were the result of “cheap political action and not actual opposition to the dam”.

“This project was and continues to be the dream of the local population,” he added.

(Reuters)