Sudanese journalists assaulted, detained during yesterday’s Marches of the Millions

Security forces stormed the headquarters of the Al Araby satellite TV channel in Khartoum and detained correspondent Islam Saleh, cameraman Wael El Hasan, and some of their colleagues when they were covering yesterday’s Marches of the Millions in Khartoum.

Journalist Shamayel El Nour was severely beaten by military forces, while journalist Osman Fadlallah and Bakri Khalifa barely managed to escape death by being run over by a ‘Thatcher car’, a big Toyota Land Cruiser.

The Sudanese Journalists’ Network (SJN) condemned the violence of the military forces against journalists covering the January 13 Marches of the Millions in Sudan’s capital Khartoum.

The network described the violence as criminal behaviour and holds the authorities responsible for the detainees’ safety.

Military forces also detained Xinhua’s cameraman Mohamed Khidir and photographer Majdi Abdallah, as Radio Dabanga reported yesterday. The SJN demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the two colleagues.

Al Araby targeted before

Earlier this month, members of the joint security forces threw tear gas canisters at crew members of the Al Araby television network while they were filming the Marches of the Millions from their office in Khartoum.

At the end of December, joint forces also stormed the offices of the Arab Al Arabiya and Al Hadath satellite TV channels, assaulted the journalists present, destroyed their equipment, and stole their belongings. They also threatened the staff of Asharq News Channel and Sky News Arabia.