New charges against Sudanese Communist Party newspaper

For the sixth time this month, agents of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) confiscated the print-run of El Midan newspaper in Khartoum on Sunday. The NISS added new charges against the editor-in-chief, Madeeha Abdallah, and filed complaints against the head of the newspaper's political section, Ibrahim Mirghani, and columnist Suleiman Hamed.

Abdallah, Ibrahim, and Hamed are summoned to appear before a judge in Khartoum on Tuesday, on charges of “defamation” of government officials and institutions.  

Previous charges filed by the state’s security prosecution against the editor-in-chief of what is the Sudanese Communist Party’s newspaper, include "the undermining the constitutional order”. These charges are punishable with the death penalty or life imprisonment.

Last Wednesday, Abdallah was interrogated by the prosecutor about the publication of an interview on 28 December, with Abdelaziz El Hilu, Military Chief of Staff of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). She was released on bail the same day.

During the past year, the NISS strengthened its grip on the Sudanese press and media. More than 50 print-runs of various newspapers were confiscated at Khartoum’s printing presses, without a court order.