Sudanese radical preacher accuses female journalist of apostasy

February 17, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – A Sudanese radical Islamic preacher Mohamed Ali al-Gazouli, Friday, has accused a Sudanese female journalist of apostasy, which is punishable by death in Sudan, and called on worshipers to protect their religion.

Al-Gazouli who is known for his support to Jihadist groups, in his Friday sermon slammed Shamael al-Nur, a journalist and columnist at the independent Al-Tayyar newspaper for writing an article saying that Islamic regimes are more preoccupied with virtue, female clothing, appearance and behaviour issues than health and education issues.

“It is easy to drop spending on health in the state budget, but it remains very difficult to (grant) the Ministry of Health the right to distribute condoms,” she wrote on 2 February, denouncing the “virtue’s obsession” of Islamic groups.

In his sermon of Friday prayer at a mosque in the Khartoum suburb of Al-Jarif West, the preacher pledged to mobilise religious scholars against al-Nur and the “seculars”, adding that his action will be through the media and the judiciary.

“Get up to protect your religion. Get angry for your law and your Lord,” he called before to wonder, “How can a girl dare to write about condoms?”. He further vowed to file a legal complaint to see whether the court will consider what she wrote is “an apostasy or not”.

Al-Gizouli had already published an article against the journalist on Thursday in Al-Siha newspaper of al-Tayeb Mustafa, the uncle of President Omer al-Bashir and head of the Just Peace Forum (JPF).

Mustafa himself was the first person to write against the female journalist and called to prevent the journalist and “her likes of worms” from corrupting the virtues of the country.

Al-Nur, filed a complaint against Mustafa and accused him of inciting radical and extremists groups against her. Also, Al Tayyar newspaper has officially requested the police authorities to protect the female journalist.

“The matter now should be dealt with under the Terrorism Act. We have officially sent a letter to the police to clarify the magnitude of the threat against the newspaper and Shamael,” wrote Osman Mirghani, the publisher and chief editor of Al-Tayyar.

He further warned that the competent authorities should bear their responsibilities on this respect.

(ST)