Sudanese journalists agree to end hunger strike
March 3, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Journalists of al-Tayyar newspaper Thursday, have agreed to end a three-day hunger strike after a pledge from the government to refer the closure of the newspaper to the Constitutional Court.
However, a mediation committee comprising members of the Sudanese Journalist Union met Thursday with the strikers committee headed by Khalid Fatehi and proposed end the strike in exchange for a pledge that the case be referred to the Constitutional Court.
The mediators who said they are mandated by “official bodies” vowed that the government would “be bound by the judge’s decision whatever it may be,” Fatehi told Sudan Tribune after the meeting.
He further said the two sides agreed to form a joint committee to discuss the press issues and Al-Tayyar case particularly.
Over thirty journalists participate in the hunger strike which is the first of its kind in Sudan.
The journalists participating in the protest said they agreed to end the hunger strike temporarily . They stressed they want to give the Constitutional Court the necessary time to say what the law is.
It was reported that the suspension of the daily intervened following the publication of an editorial by the editor in chief Osman Mirghani criticizing the minister of finance and called for his resignation after a decision lifting of subsidies on wheat, power and fuel.
After the clsoure of Al-Tayyar, Osman explained that he had received a call from the NISS ordering him to not print the latest issue. To punish him for not complying, the issue was seized and followed by the closure of the independent daily.
Legally, Sudanese press is protected under the provisions of the 2005 interim constitution but in fact the press is harshly controlled by the NISS which censure, confiscate and ban newspapers.
(ST)