Three Sudanese newspapers gagged within three days, Elaph suspended

Agents of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) confiscated the print-run of a Sudanese newspaper today for the third day in a row.

Early this (Wednesday) morning, all copies of the economic weekly newspaper Elaph were seized at the printing press.

The publisher of Elaph, Dr Khaled El Tijani, reported on his Facebook page that the newspaper received a letter this morning, after the confiscation, saying that the newspaper had been suspended “until further notice”. No reasons were given.

On Tuesday morning, NISS agents confiscated the print-run of El Siyasi newspaper, without providing a reason. The daily was recently founded by Mustafa Abulazayim.

El Siyasi’s editor-in-chief told Radio Dabanga that the seizure of the print-run was almost certainly caused by an article about the Sudanese students who left Khartoum on Friday to join the Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

He pointed out that the security confiscated El Tayar and El Jareeda newspapers on Monday for publishing a statement by the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ali El Sadig, who accused officials within the government of recruiting Sudanese students for the IS.