Sudanese publisher stops press to protest censorship

The publisher of Sudanese independent daily Al Jareeda has withheld the Monday edition of the paper in protest against government censorship.

The move comes a day after confiscation of the paper's Sunday edition--the first issue to come out in three months after it was shut by the government in July 2011--by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS)

Before the closure, the government had warned the publisher against columns by journalists who previously worked with Ahjras Al Hurriya, another independent newspaper that was banned.

"When Al Jareeda began to attract writers from Ahjras Al Hurriya , they faced harassment by the government who didn't want it to become a second version of Ahjras Al Hurriya," said Rasha Awad, a well-known columnist.

Mr Awad said that the government crackdown on newspapers such as Al Jareeda is an attempt to censor the media.

"The harassment of Al Jareeda is a tactic to scare all newspapers," said Mr Awad, who currently publishes only online.

Mr El-Obeid Marawih, the secretary-general of the the Sudanese National Council for Press and Publications and the the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry told the Africa Review that there are normally two options to deal with a newspaper namely filing a complaint at the Council or taking the matter to court.

Changed terms

However, he said, the Security Act changed the procedure of dealing with the media.

"The Security Act gives the NISS the right to confiscate a newspaper if they believe it affects the national security in Sudan," said Mr Marawih.

"When there is a national hazard, the matter cannot wait for weeks for the council or the court to take action, especially when there is instability or the country is at a state of war," he said.

"We are having meetings today at the Journalist Syndicate, the NISS, the Parliament and other involved ministries to submit a memorandum about the confiscation," said Osman Shinger, Al Jareeda's editor-in-chief told the Africa Review.

When the NISS closed down Al Jareeda, the newspaper took the council to court and managed to secure a favourable ruling.

Last week, the paper's editor-in-chief announced that they were ready to return to the streets.

The Sudanese Journalist Network said that confiscation violates the constitution and laws and confiscating published copies causes severe loss to the publisher.

This month, two newspapers, Rai Al Shab, the official mouthpiece of the opposition party, the Popular Congress Party (PCP), and Alwan, a privately owned newspaper were also shut down by the NISS.