(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Information Ghazi Salaheddine Atabani, RSF protested the 7 May 2000 seizure of private dailies “Alwan”, “Al-Rai Al-Akher”, “Al-Wifaq”, and “Al-Sahafi Ad-Dawli”, in Khartoum. Robert Ménard, RSF’s secretary-general, asked the minister to use his influence to “put an end to these types of measures, which are clear lapses […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Information Ghazi Salaheddine Atabani, RSF protested the 7 May 2000 seizure of private dailies “Alwan”, “Al-Rai Al-Akher”, “Al-Wifaq”, and “Al-Sahafi Ad-Dawli”, in Khartoum. Robert Ménard, RSF’s secretary-general, asked the minister to use his influence to “put an end to these types of measures, which are clear lapses in press freedom and the expression of democratic pluralism.”
According to information obtained by RSF, these four independent dailies were seized folowing preparations to publish press releases by the ruling party’s deposed secretary general, Hassan al-Tourabi, and his partisans. The editors-in-chief of these newspapers were summonsed on 6 May, after receiving a warning from the minister of information regarding the state of emergency which has been in effect since 12 December 1999.
