Sudan’s NISS bans reporting on student protests : watchdog
April 29, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – A Sudanese media watchdog said Friday that the security service directed the newspapers to not report about student demonstrations to protest the recent killing of two students .
Two students Mohamed al-Sadiq of Omdurman Ahlia University and Abu Bakr Siddiq of Kordofan University were killed during violent clashes between government and opposition supporters respectively on 27 and 19 April.
Following what, the opposition supporters Thursday and Friday organized several protests in different universities accusing the security services of targeting pro-opposition student groups and called to overthrow the regime.
Sudan’s Journalists’ Association for Human Rights (JAHR) on Friday issued a statement saying that the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) had directed the newspapers on Thursday to not cover the student protests that erupted in Khartoum.
The press was ordered “to not publish any news reports that can promote violence, feed unrest and chaos or prejudice the ongoing investigation in the case of Omdurman Ahlia University student,” JAHR said.
The local watchdog further said the directive contained direct threats to the press. It added that the NISS however mentioned that the government has no intention to close the universities, except in the case of absolute necessity to protect properties.
The Sudanese opposition parties condemned the death of the two students and called to protest against the government.
The leader of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) Farouk Abu Issa on Friday released an audio message through the social media calling on the Sudanese to demonstrate against the regime and to protest the death of the students.
On a similar move, the leader of the National Umma Party (NUP) Sadiq al-Mahdi issued a statement calling on the Sudanese people to take to the street to protest against “tyranny and corruption without violence or sabotage.”
Also, U.S. Embassy in Khartoum on Friday asked its citizens to exercise caution in light of anti-government demonstrations and violence at several universities in the Sudanese capital..
” As a result of ongoing unrest, the Embassy is exercising heightened caution by temporarily restricting Embassy staff from the vicinity of the affected universities,” said a message sent by the Embassy to the American nationals in Khartoum.
During the past weeks, Khartoum has been the scene of student anti-government protests after statements by a government official about to sell Khartoum University land.
(ST)