Sudanese MPs seek to lift ban on newspaper
January 15, (KHARTOUM) – Several independent MPs and the committee for freedoms and fundamental rights of the national dialogue conference are making vigorous efforts to lift the suspension of the Al-Tayyar newspaper.
At the time, editors at the newspaper told Sudan Tribune the move was likely triggered by a series of Op-eds by the editor in chief Osman Merghani in which he fiercely criticized the Minister of Finance’s announcement of a new round of subsidy cuts on fuel, electricity and wheat.
The newspaper submitted a claim to the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of the NISS move and demanding immediate lift of the suspension decision.
Well-informed sources told Sudan Tribune that efforts of the independent MPs and the committee for freedoms might culminate in meetings with higher government levels including the presidency to issue a decision to lift the ban on al-Tayyar.
The same sources underscored the independent legislators and the freedoms committee see that the suspension of al-Tayyar is not consistent with the national dialogue and the climate it seeks to create.
It is worth to mention that a group of masked gunmen on 18 July 2014 stormed the building of Al-Tayyar in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum and assaulted Merghani. They also confiscated all cellular phones and laptops of the newspaper’s staff and attacked several journalists before leaving.
The attack was thought to have been triggered by statements Merghani made during a TV talk show program in which he defended the issue of normalising relations with Israel. He also wrote a column on the same issue in Al-Tayyar.
The NISS routinely suspends and confiscates newspapers either to prevent circulation of certain stories or to punish them retroactively on previous issues.
In February, NISS seized entire print runs of 14 newspapers in one day without stating the reasons for its decision.
In June 2012, NISS suspended al-Tayyar indefinitely and allowed it to resume publication two years later upon a ruling of the Constitutional Court.