Sudan prosecutor closes website of El Sudani newspaper

On Monday, the Information Crimes and Digital Investigations Prosecution, directed the Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority to block the website of El Sudani newspaper, following a complaint about an information crime.

Attaf Mohamed Mukhtar, Editor-in-Chief of El Sudani newspaper, told Radio Dabanga that the news outlet was not officially informed about the decision.

“The site was suspended without a warning. I was not even summoned concerning the complaint,” he stated. “The prosecution only notified El Sudani’s legal advisor.”

He said that the competence of arrest belongs to the judiciary and not to the prosecution, and stressed that they will take “the necessary measures”.

The prosecutor who made the decision, Abdelmunim Hafi, is the same one who suspended El Sudani and about 30 other online newspapers in July last year on the pretext of stirring public unrest.

Earlier this month, the African Center for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) lamented the continued repression of journalists in Sudan. Despite continued harassment and censorship of journalists in the country, the ACJPS report as well congratulated of 39 new elected members of the Sudan Journalists Syndicate secretariat on August 29.