Journalists: ‘Media blackout reflects flaws in Sudan’s institutions’

The Sudanese Journalists Network (SJN) has called for a broad media campaign against the ongoing violations against journalists, demanding an end to arbitrary persecution, detention, abuse, and harassment without any legal justification. It also renews its call to the authorities to fulfil their responsibility and duty to provide adequate protection and ensure the safety of journalists.

The call follows the detention of journalist Sadiq Mustafa El Sheikh, an editor at El Midan, the newspaper of the Communist Party of Sudan, in what the network terms an attempt to impose a media blackout.

In a statement yesterday, the SJN laments that El Sheikh “was unlawfully detained by security police for an extended period on September 28”. According to the network, El Sheikh was seized by security police in front of the Passport Administration building in Wad Madani in El Gezira. He was initially detained in a police vehicle, and later confined in a room supervised by detectives. He also witnessed violence and unjustified aggression from some police officers against members of the public, including beatings with batons.

The journalists network points out that “the unlawful detention took place without any legal basis, while El Sheikh was performing his professional duties, which included taking photographs of people gathering to enter the main gate of the building. During his detention, his mobile phone was confiscated, and the interviews he conducted with several people were deleted before he was released.

The journalists network statement highlights another violation prior to this incident, when a Rapid Support Forces (RSF) unit stormed El Sheikh’s house, assaulted him and his family, and stole all movable possessions in the house at gunpoint. This attack extended to most houses in the neighbourhood in a similar manner.

The Sudanese Journalists Network declares its full solidarity with El Sheikh. “Attempting to terrorise and intimidate journalists through detention and violence, preventing them from carrying out their professional duties… reflects the shortcomings and flaws in state institutions,” the SJN statement says.

Press freedom

Journalists and media professionals have suffered disproportionately from violations and displacement since the start of the current Sudan conflict, and are often ‘classified’ according to their views on the conflict, a prominent Sudanese broadcaster says in response to questions from Dabanga News regarding the joint statement in September by 17 Sudanese media institutions and press organisations, including Dabanga Radio TV Online, highlighting the critical state of press freedom in Sudan.