World journalists federation welcomes end of censorship in Sudan
April 18, 2008 (BRUSSELS) — The world’s largest organisation of journalists, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today welcomed an agreement by Sudanese authorities to end censorship.
The Sudanese Journalists’ Union held a meeting on Wednesday with 27 newspaper editors and officers from the security services responsible for media and agreed to end all censorship and stop the practice of sending newspaper stories to the censor before publication.
“We applaud the work of the Sudanese Journalists’ Union (SJU), which has been instrumental in ending censorship,” said IFJ General Secretary Aidan White. “We also welcome the decision to raise awareness on the need for respect of the media code of conduct and commitment to ethical journalism.”
The newspapers also agreed to adhere to the media code of conduct and to further discussions on how to protect press freedom and promote responsible journalism.
SJU President Mohialden Titawi said the union is committed to defending press freedom and that the legal process is the best method for solving publishing disputes. It also called on media to make responsible editorial decisions.
Since April, 13 Sudanese security service ordered 10 daily newspapers to submit their content for prior approval. A decision considered as anti-constitutional by the editors who refused to comply and printed their editions in the normal way.
The police then went to the printers and seized copies of Ajras al-Huriyya, Rai al-Shaab and Al-Ayyam on 15 April.
The editions of Al-Sudani, al-Ahdath, Ajras al-Huriyya, Rai al-Shaab and the English-language daily The Citizen were seized after several tens of thousands of copies had been printed on April 16.
Al-Sudani and The Citizen were banned on Thursday April 17, for the second time.
(ST)