Security rearrests Faisal Muhammed Salih, confiscates two newspapers

On Tuesday, the security service arrested journalist Faisal Muhammed Salih again from his home. The Coordinator of the Journalists’ Network for Human Rights, Faisal al Baqir said security rearrested Salih for crimes against the state. He said he thought the arrest may be to do with Salih’s refusal to sign the security’s summons to court, in which security agents will be brought forward as witnesses to testify against him. Faisal al Baqir appealed to ‘the local media and human rights organisations to intensify activities to lobby to release him, so that he will not be subjected to the security summons and to defend freedom of opinion and expression.’ In a similar vein, also on Tuesday security confiscated Al Midan newspaper from the printing press for the eighth time during May, and Al Jarida newspaper for the second time during the same week. In a statement the Sudanese Journalists Network has condemned the confiscation of newspapers from the printing press, as security continue to try to muzzle journalists and ban writers from publishing. The Network demanded that security take journalists to court if they violate media law. It added that the repeated confiscation of newspapers and banning journalists are serious indicators of limiting, weakening and restricting publishers’ freedom of expression.