(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced alarm over the climate of hate surrounding the blasphemy trial of Mohamed Taha Mohamed Ahmed, the editor-in-chief of the Sudanese daily “Al-Wifaq”, for whom the death penalty is being demanded not only by the public prosecutor but also by the thousands of demonstrators who have been disrupting the trial. “We […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced alarm over the climate of hate surrounding the blasphemy trial of Mohamed Taha Mohamed Ahmed, the editor-in-chief of the Sudanese daily “Al-Wifaq”, for whom the death penalty is being demanded not only by the public prosecutor but also by the thousands of demonstrators who have been disrupting the trial.
“We are very disturbed by this terrifying case in which a journalist is being tried by an assize court subject to the pressure of a frenzied mob,” the organisation said.
“It would be disastrous if Sudan, as it tries to emerge from years of violence, were to put a journalist to death for writing an article that sparked a religious dispute, and we therefore urge the authorities to realize that this spectacle of violence and hate can only aggravate a deplorable climate that has lasted too many years,” RSF said.
“The charges against Ahmed seem to us to be unfounded, the prosecutor’s demands are totally disproportionate, and the way the trial is being conducted is clearly unjust,” the organisation added.
Ahmed’s trial on charge of blasphemy began on 4 May 2005. He was arrested on the evening of 8 May at the behest of the office of the prosecutor responsible for press offences. The following day, the prosecutor’s office ordered the closure of his newspaper until the end of the trial.
The imams of Khartoum called on the faithful to gather outside the assize court on 10 May, on the third day of Ahmed’s trial. Since the trial began, thousands had been demonstrating outside the court and chanting such slogans as “death to the apostate.” On 10 May, the size and anger of the crowd was such that the trial was adjourned and Ahmed had to be taken away under heavy police escort.
A member of the Muslim Brothers movement as a well as a journalist, Ahmed was formally accused in court on 4 May of insulting the Prophet Mohammed in an article in his newspaper. The prosecution has requested the death penalty.
The article was about an Islamic manuscript more than 500 years old that raises doubts about Mohammed’s parentage. Entitled, “The unknown in the Prophet’s life,” the manuscript is believed to have been written by Al-Maqrizi, a Muslim historian, and claims the real name of Mohammed’s father was not Abdallah but Abdel Lat, or “Slave of Lat,” an idol of the pre-Islamic era.
The Associated Press news agency reported that Ahmed has apologised in a statement to the press but continues to deny the charges.
