Newspaper seized in Sudan

Editorial team complains that the Sudanese Security Service gave no formal reason for its actions

Al-Jarida, a daily newspaper in Sudan, was seized by the Sudanese national security service(NISS) on Sunday.The printing press of the newspaper was raided by the NISS for the second time without providing any official reasons for doing so.

Al-Jarida’s editorial team made a statement explaining that the security services confiscated the newspaper in the early morning hours of Sunday and complained of assault and violation of freedom of press, which is guaranteed by the constitution.

Hashim Hassan, managing director of the newspaper, said the security services had called him and the editor Saad Eddin Ibrahim. “They don’t prefer the editorial policy of the newspaper. We had recruited columnists and journalists from Bells of Freedom, which is suspended by the government,” he said in a statement

Press freedom has suffered under the rule National Congress Party’s (NCP’s) in Sudan. Earlier this month, Radio Dabanga reported about the confiscation of yet another newspaper Al-Ahdath.