CPJ Condemns Press Censorship in Khartoum

21 May 2010 - (Khartoum) – In Khartoum, national security agents have closed Ray al-Shaab newspaper and imposed censorship on two others, Raya al-Hurriya and Al-Sahafa.

Reacting to the the latest incident of press censorship, a spokesman for the Committee to Protect Journalists, Mohamed Abdel Dayem, told SRS that censorship has always existed in Sudan.

[Mohamed Abdel Dayem]: “I think the problem in Juba is very similar to the problem in Khartoum; the authorities still think that they can control the content of independent and opposition media. Currently, there is no media law in southern Sudan; these laws are pending. So how is the media supposed to be regulated in southern Sudan without a media law? If the government thinks certain journalists or a media company violated a law or defamed somebody, it is very important that they charge the individual with those crimes and that a court of law rules on them. You can’t accuse a journalist of doing something, arrest them and close the newspaper. That is not a productive way of operating, and ultimately it hurts the Sudanese because it deprives them of independent news.”

Mohamed Abdel Dayem was speaking to SRS on Wednesday.