Sudan release prominent journalist after five-week detention
March 29, 2019 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese authorities released Osman Mirghani on Friday after his detention for supporting the ongoing anti-government protests that erupted in December 2018.
The editor of chief of Al-Tayyar daily newspaper had been arrested on 22 February as he told Sky News Arabia TV that President Omer al-Bashir’s decision to impose the state of emergency for one year did not resolve the political crisis.
A-Bashir didn’t respond to the ultimate demand of the Sudanese people who asked him to go, said Mirgahni adding that the state of emergency would just trigger a new wave of demonstrations.
On Friday morning, in a short statement released on his Facebook page, Mohamed Abdel Gader the Sudanese Journalists Union (SJU) Freedoms secretariat official announced his release and posted a picture for him and the Presidential Assistant Ahmed Haroun who is also the head of the ruling National Congress Party.
Speaking to Al-Jazeera TV after his release, Mirghani said he was not charged and or interrogated by the security services during his five-week arbitrary detention.
He further said his family visited me two weeks after the arrest. He also mentioned the visit of the leadership of the pro-government SJU and the National Press and Publications Council who paid him a visit on Thursday and expressed wishes to see freed soon.
On 25 March, the Sudanese journalists Network (SJNET) which is a member of the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), and the coordinator of the anti-government protests organized a march in Khartoum downtown calling for Mirghani’s release.
Also, the Paris based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Friday has asked the United Nations to intercede to obtain the release of the Sudanese prominent journalist.
(ST)