Sudanese journalists protest against detention of colleague in Khartoum
October 27, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – Dozens of Sudanese journalists have protested on Monday in front of the National Council for Press and Publications’ (NCPP) headquarters in Khartoum in solidarity with journalist al-Nour Ahmed al-Nour, who was arrested by National Intelligence and Security Forces (NISS) on Thursday.
Al-Nour is the correspondent for the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper in Khartoum and a columnist at Al-Taqyeer newspaper.
The NISS alleges that al-Nour is responsible for publishing a false report, saying that president Omer Hassan al-Bashir issued a decision to merge electricity companies following reports on their poor performance.
Around 150 journalists besides several opposition leaders and al-Nour’s family have gathered in front of the NCPP’s headquarters and handed its secretary general, Ali Mohamed Shomo, a memorandum calling for his immediate release or put him to a fair trial.
They held banners calling for freedom of press and demanding Bashir to order al-Nour’s immediate release.
The independent Sudanese Journalists Network (SJN) said that journalists are subjected to continuous harassments, saying five journalists were detained for several hours while they were covering the ruling National Congress Party’s (NCP) general convention last week.
Shomo, for his part, vowed to contact the NISS to release al-Nour, underscoring the issue must be dealt with as publication case.
According to eye witness, al-Nour was arrested on Thursday near the premises of Al-Taqyeer newspaper in downtown Khartoum before he was taken to NISS’s political department and to Kober prison later.
In April 2013, he was ordered by NISS to stop his duties as the editor-in-chief of Al-Sahafa newspaper, threatening to suspend issuance of the newspaper if the order was not implemented. In response, the newspaper relieved him from his duties as editor-in-chief as of April, 2013.
The pro-government General Union of Sudanese Journalists (GUSJ) had earlier denounced al-Nour’s detention, calling upon NISS to release him or bring him before a trail according to the press law if there are reasons to accuse him of being responsible for publishing the report.
The parliamentary sub-committee on information on Sunday criticised what it described as “suspicious” political detentions against journalists, saying al-Nour’s detention is a setback for freedoms in the country.
The head of the sub-committee, Afaf Tower, demanded taking the official legal procedures by filing charges against al-Nour through the press prosecutor, expressing readiness to investigate the case if they receive an official complaint.
Sudanese journalists work under tight daily censorship controls exercised by the NISS.
Sudan’s constitution guarantees freedom of expression but laws subordinate to the constitution such as the National Security Forces Act of 2010 contains articles that can be potentially used to curtail press freedom and instigate legal proceedings against newspapers and individual journalists.
Sudanese government vowed to ensure press freedom as part of confidence-building measures before the national dialogue.
(ST)