Sudan security seizes print run of Akhir Lahza

Agents of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) confiscated copies of Akhir Lahza daily newspaper in Khartoum on Monday morning. They did not explain the reasons for the confiscation.

Copies of the newspaper were also seized on 22 and 24 April this year. The Sudanese Journalists Association for Human Rights (JAHR) issued a statement about the confiscation, describing it as a “punitive and disciplinary security measure” against the newspapers for publishing unwanted reports. “It is aimed at inflicting political, economic and moral losses on the newspapers and to force them to exercise self-censorship.”

The NISS imposes severe restrictions on press freedom and publication and dissemination of information, along with pre-publication censorship. Sudan tops the world's list of violators of press freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders.