Sudan’s security suspends and confiscates pro-government daily newspapers
May 26, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) has suspended the pro-government Al-Intibaha and Al-Migher Al-siyasi daily newspapers saying that they addressed sensitive military issues without referring to official sources, as well as confiscating Saturday issue of Al-Mashhad Alaan daily.
Abd Al-Marouf is the military commander who played a major role in restoring Heglig area from South Sudan’s army last year.
Last week, The Sudanese National Council for Press and Publications circulated a directive notifying newspapers to refrain from addressing military and security issues unless information is provided by the army’s official spokesperson.
NISS also suspended Al-Migher daily after publishing several articles written by Al-Hindi Izz Al-din in which he drew sharp criticism of the military policy and leadership as well as criticizing statements made by the National Congress Party (NCP) leading figure, Qutbi Al-Mahdi, declaring that NCP decided to re-nominate president Omer Al-Bashir in the 2015 presidential elections.
Al-Hindi further called for change in leadership and asked president Al-Bashir to lead the change “before the flood inundates the country”, criticizing performance of the ministry of defence.
The army spokesperson, Al-Sawarmi Khaled Saad on Saturday, told the state official news agency SUNA that Al-hindi’s quote “money is in the hand of the miser and the sword is in the hand of the coward” has infuriated the army and the other regular forces who are holding arms in defence of the country.
Al-Sawarmi further considered Al-Hindi’s quote as contradictory to the mobilisation efforts carried out by the Sudanese people to support the army, saying that journalists shouldn’t send messages which weaken the people and undermine the role of the army.
NISS also confiscated Saturday’s issue of Al-Mashhad Alaan for reporting that military forces loyal to the ousted president of the Central African Republic, François Bozizé, have entered Sudan.
Al-Mashhad was confiscated despite publishing Al-Sawarmi’s denial of the news in the same report.
Suspension and confiscation of newspaper comes less than a week after the Sudanese authorities have officially began implementing the directives of 1st vice-president Ali Osman Taha to lift direct pre-publication censorship on newspapers.
In April, Sudan security forced Al-Sahafa newspaper editor-in-chief, Al-Nur Ahmed Al-Nur to resign, and detained Al-Jazeera T.V bureau chief.
Last year authorities suspended columnist Haidar Al-Makashfi who works for the same newspaper for 11 months and prohibited him from writing in any newspaper.
They also shut down three newspapers including the independent al-Tayar newspaper and two Islamist newspapers – Alwan and Al-Rai Al-Shaab.
In 2010 Sudan suspended the broadcasts of the BBC Arabic on FM radio and also revoked license of Monte Carlo, the Arabic service of Radio France Internationale (RFI) which also used FM airwaves in Sudan.
(ST)