Sudanese journalists protest clampdown on press freedoms
May 26, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Several journalists from the Sudanese Journalists Network (SJN) have protested in front of the National Council for Press and Publication (NCPP) premises Tuesday against the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) crackdown on press.
The pro-government Sudan Journalists Union (SJU) condemned the move, describing it as an unfortunate development that brought back memory of seizing 14 newspapers on 16 February.
The Sudanese Journalists Network (SJN) submitted a memo to the newly appointed chairman of NCPP, Fadl Allah Mohamed, and the secretary-general, Hisham Mohamed Abbas, describing frequent seizure of newspapers without reason as clear violation for the 2005 interim constitution.
The memo said the executive power is imposing absolute control over media and freedoms of press and expression, adding that the Sudanese press is currently witnessing the worst phase in its history due to tightened security grip besides persecution of journalists and deteriorating economic conditions of newspapers.
The letter further pointed to growing incidents of newspapers’ confiscation copies and the various types of censorship as well as summoning and interrogation of journalists by the NISS.
The SJN referred to physical violence against journalists, mentioning the incidents against the Chief-Editor of Al-Tayyar newspaper, Osman Mergheni, and chairman of the board of directors of Al-Mustaqilla newspaper, Ali Hamdan.
It accused the regime of seeking to draft a new press law inconsistent with the freedom of expression and the 2005 interim constitution. This bill does not reflect opinions of the majority of journalists, besides applying harsh economic measures through imposing high duties, taxes and customs on printing press materials, the SJN said.
The memo asked the NCPP to offer advice to the various government organs regarding press laws as is the case in any plural society, demanding it to work with all the concerned legislative and executive bodies including the presidency which oversees NISS’s activities.
“The presidential palace is not [innocent] of the abuses and violations against the Sudanese press”, the memo says accusing the head of the state of giving the security organs unlimited powers against the law and the constitution.
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The SJN said it looks forward to seeing swift measures by the NCPP with the participation of all concerned bodies to cancel the pre-publication censorship and lift the ban on the suspended newspapers and journalists.
It called for applying economic remedies by exempting the press industry from duties, taxes and customs, saying legal measures must also be taken to oblige the NISS to resort to the press court in dealing with the issues of publishing.
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.
Journalists say that NISS uses seizures of print copies of newspapers, not only to censor the media but also to weaken them economically.
(ST)