Sudanese political newspaper confiscated

The Sudanese security authorities confiscated Alwan, a political daily newspaper, without giving reasons on Sunday.

Journalists said that a representative of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) arrived at the newspaper’s headquarters in Khartoum and ordered to stop printing the newspaper. He confiscated about 2,600 copies.

El Alwan was among a group of Sudanese dailies that the NISS confiscated on 25 May last year, for unknown reasons.

Another political daily newspaper, El Mustagilla, was confiscated for two days in a row last week.

The NISS imposes strict restrictions on press freedom, as well as the freedom of dessimmination and circulation of information, and conducts prior censorship of publications, as part of its ‘red-lines policy’ on subjects that Sudanese media are not allowed to report on. Recently included are the protests at universities in Khartoum, Omdurman, and Port Sudan.

Sudan ranked among one of the lowest countries in the annual World Press Freedom Index.