(RSF/IFEX) – In an 11 August 1999 letter to General al-Bashir, RSF protested the suspension of the daily “Al Bayan” because of an article critical of the ruling party. RSF urged General al-Bashir to “ensure that newspapers are not the target of repression and that press freedom is guaranteed in your country as a basic […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In an 11 August 1999 letter to General al-Bashir, RSF protested
the suspension of the daily “Al Bayan” because of an article critical of the
ruling party. RSF urged General al-Bashir to “ensure that newspapers are not
the target of repression and that press freedom is guaranteed in your
country as a basic human right.” The organisation also asked for “a new law
to be passed guaranteeing that newspapers are not suspended for being
critical of the government or the ruling party and that the National Press
Council does not have the power to censor any publications.”
According to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report, on 10 August, the
National Press Council ordered the daily “Al Bayan” to be suspended for
three days because of an article critical of the ruling party (National
Congress). The newspaper had refused to dismiss the journalist responsible
for the article, who was not accredited, according to the Council.
On 26 July, the National Press Council had already ordered the independent
daily “Al-Raï Al-Akhar” to be suspended for two days because of articles
critical of the government’s press policy. “Al-Raï Al-Akhar” has been
suspended four times since the beginning of the year (see IFEX alerts of 28
July and 6 July 1999).
