Journalists from suspended Sudanese newspaper appeal to government

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Jan 21, 2004 (AP) — Dozens of journalists and other workers at Sudan’s most respected daily newspaper appealed to the government and human rights groups on Wednesday to let them resume publishing and compensate them for lost wages.

The government suspended the licenses of the newspapers Al-Ayam and the English-language Khartoum Monitor in November, but editors say they were never given a reason for the action.

The newspaper had published articles about Sudanese rebels and militia that angered the government, and the government has accused Al-Ayam of publishing articles that threaten national security. The U.S. Embassy criticized the suspensions last month.

“We have been subjected to the threat of dismissal, unemployment and poverty as a result of the suspension of the newspaper and the nonpayment of our salaries and wages,” 69 employees of the newspaper wrote in a petition Wednesday.

The newspaper’s managing editor, Kamal al-Sadiq, said the petition was submitted to the president’s office, to justice ministers, human rights groups, the labor minister, parliament, human rights groups and journalists’ unions.

The memo called the newspaper’s suspension “not legally or constitutionally founded, given the fact that only a due process of law can find the innocent guilty, if there was any guilt, and such a process has never taken place.”

The memo appealed to officials “to allow the newspaper to appear once again and to compensate us for the injustice and material and psychological damage incurred.”

Al-Ayam, established in 1953, is Sudan’s oldest newspaper.