(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on the Sudanese government to allow the daily newspaper “Alwan” to resume publishing immediately. The paper was suspended on 2 September 2003 after state security officials accused it of “inciting sedition.” “This is the third time this year the newspaper has been censored,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard in a […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on the Sudanese government to allow the daily newspaper “Alwan” to resume publishing immediately. The paper was suspended on 2 September 2003 after state security officials accused it of “inciting sedition.”
“This is the third time this year the newspaper has been censored,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard in a letter to Justice Minister Ali Mohammed Osman Yassin calling for the ban to be lifted.
The measure contradicts the 12 August presidential decree guaranteeing press freedom, ending censorship by the National Security Agency and transferring supervision of the press to the National Press Council. Before the decree was issued, President Omar al-Bashir had promised that everyone would be able to speak freely in the press and even on state-controlled television.
“The suspension of ‘Alwan’ seems to put an end to this attempt at press liberalisation and also appears to indicate the existence of a conflict between the president and the National Security Agency,” Ménard said.
Mohammed Farid Hassan, the prosecutor who handles subversion cases, ordered the newspaper’s suspension under Articles 66 and 69 of the criminal code and Article 25 of the press law, pending consideration of a complaint by the National Security Agency that “Alwan” had published articles inciting people to sedition and likely to disturb public order. Agency officials had objected when President Bashir suggested they would no longer intervene in press affairs.
