Sudanese security seizes Al-Saiha newspaper for the second day

April 18, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) on Monday has confiscated print runs of Al-Saiha daily newspaper for the second day in a row from the printing house without stating any reasons.

Journalists working for Al-Saiha told Sudan Tribune that the NISS might have decided to punish the newspapers by confiscating their print runs for two days instead of one day as it used to do in the past.

Last week, the NISS also seized copies of Al-Taghyeer newspaper for two days in a row from the printing house without giving reasons.

The same journalists complained that the NISS doesn’t usually inform them of the reasons behind the confiscations, saying this measure would practically expand the list of the banned topics that the publishers and editorial boards must bear in mind.

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.

The NISS routinely confiscates newspapers either to prevent circulation of certain stories or to punish them retroactively on previous issues.

It uses seizures of print copies of newspapers, not only to censor the media but also to weaken them economically.

(ST)