(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on the Sudanese authorities to stop harassing the daily “Khartoum Monitor” and allow it to resume publication at once, in line with a recent court decision. The English-language newspaper’s publishing licence was cancelled on 12 July 2003, but this decision was struck down on appeal during the week of 8 […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on the Sudanese authorities to stop harassing the daily “Khartoum Monitor” and allow it to resume publication at once, in line with a recent court decision.
The English-language newspaper’s publishing licence was cancelled on 12 July 2003, but this decision was struck down on appeal during the week of 8 September, and the National Press Council said the paper could resume publishing. However, the “Khartoum Monitor” did not publish on 13 September, following pressure from Mohammed Farid Hassan, the government prosecutor in charge of subversion. Hassan blocked the paper’s publication under Article 130 (paragraphs 1 and 3) of the code of criminal procedure, until the investigation of the case is complete.
“The paper is the target of serious harassment by the National Security Agency and the anti-subversion prosecutor, who has once again defied a court decision,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard.
The “Khartoum Monitor” was suspended in July for running a supposedly illegal interview in 2002 with a former cabinet minister from the country’s south who strongly criticised the government. A day earlier, the paper had published its first issue following a previous two-month suspension. It was found guilty in May of inciting religious discord and hatred of the state and was fined 500,000 Sudanese pounds (approx. US$1,925; 1,700 euros).
The campaign against the paper is part of a political struggle between the National Security Agency, which seeks to maintain its control on press issues, and the National Press Council, which President Omar el-Beshir decreed on 12 August would henceforth supervise the media and guarantee press freedom.
