Sudanese El Midan gagged for 10th time

The print-run of El Midan daily newspaper was confiscated again on Sunday. This is the 10th time that security officers halted distribution of the newspaper since the beginning of this year.

Editor-in-chief Madeeha Abdallah told Dabanga that the current campaign of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) is not directed against El Midan only, but targets the entire Sudanese press, including the pro-government newspapers.

“The security apparatus is seeking to silence the printed press, as it has become the only means to obtain information and express different opinions. Yet, the regime considers any view deviating from their standpoint a source of danger.”

She denounced the recent constitutional amendments, “which grant the Sudanese President all powers he wants”, organising elections “while there is no space at all for free competition”, and escalating wars in seven Sudanese states, amid a rapidly worsening economic crisis.

On 14 January, Abdallah was summoned by the state security prosecution because of an interview published on 28 December, with Abdelaziz El Hilu, Military Chief of Staff of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). She was charged with ‘undermining the constitutional order’, an offence that carries the death penalty or life imprisonment. She was released on bail the same day.