Sudanese security seizes Alwan newspaper for the second time
May 30, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) has seized copies of Alwan newspaper on Monday for the second day in a row without stating reasons.
Also, print runs of Al-Gareeda newspaper were seized five times within one week.
On Sunday, NISS confiscated copies of Alwan from the printing house while on Monday the newspaper was seized after it had reached the distribution centers.
The editorial board of Alwan said it is not aware of the reasons for the confiscation and pointed that the NISS didn’t contact them to explain the causes of the move.
It added that the newspaper might not publish on Tuesday in fear of a third confiscation.
Some journalists said the confiscation was likely a retaliatory measure agsinst Alwan for publishing an interview with the leader of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Gibril Ibrahim on Sunday.
It is noteworthy that Alwan is owned by the popular Islamic figure Hussein Khogali.
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.
NISS usually accuses the newspapers of crossing the red lines through publishing reports which adversely impact the national security.
Sudanese journalists work under tight daily censorship controls exercised by the NISS.
They say that NISS uses seizures of print copies of newspapers, not only to censor the media but also to weaken them economically.
(ST)