♦ This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan

♦ Sudanese daily defies reporting ban, confiscations continue

May 16 – 2016 KHARTOUM El Jareeda newspaper was again confiscated on Monday, after several days of seizures of the print runs last week. The daily newspaper had expected to resume publishing starting this week.

El Jareeda journalists went on strike for two days, until Friday, in protest of the continued seizure of copies by the Sudanese security service (NISS). It banned the newspaper from publishing for two days starting Saturday, and print-runs were seized from the printing presses on a total four days last week. Reasons for the confiscations were unknown. 

The newspaper has suffered a financial loss of SDG90,000 ($14,750) following the confiscations. Editor-in-chief Ashraf Abdel Aziz said that the “successive confiscations will affect the economics of the newspaper […] and thus will be reflected on the situation of journalists working at the newspaper”.

Newspapers have been instructed not to defy reporting bans set by the NISS, including the protests at universities in Khartoum and a report recently published by the public board of grievances, revealing financial corruption by Ministry officials. According to Aziz, El Jareeda’s copies were confiscated for covering this news.

In a related event, a journalist covering the student protests was detained by the NISS on 13 April and has remained at their offices for nearly a month, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said this week. Security agents detained journalist Ahmed Zuheir Daoud, an intern of El Midan newspaper, on duty at Khartoum University.

In reaction to the latest events, the Sudanese Journalists Network has denounced the widening of the confiscation of newspapers and the increased 'red lines' for newspapers, along with the dismissal of jounalists.

♦ Five students wounded at Omdurman campus

May 17 – 2016 OMDURMAN Two university students at a campus in Omdurman have been seriously injured in a clash that erupted over student union elections. On Monday morning, five students of the University of the Holy Koran in the twin city of Khartoum were wounded in a shooting that involved students, police, and security agents. Two of the wounded are in serious condition.

A student group submitted its candidate list for the union elections. “Students who support the National Congress Party objected to the list and fought the students, with the help of the Sudanese security service (NISS),” a student told Radio Dabanga. He reported that about 20 students were detained, including some wounded from their hospital beds.

The student union elections were planned to be held today. An incident during the registration of candidates for the student council election at the University of Kordofan in El Obeid resulted in a clash on 19 April, in which student Abu Bakr Hashim was killed. His death sparked student protests in El Obeid, Khartoum, Omdurman, and Port Sudan. The NISS in the cities detained demonstrators for short periods of time.

Murder charge
A University of Khartoum student who was detained by the authorities during a demonstration in the beginning of May has been charged with premeditated murder. On Sunday, lawyers and family members were allowed to greet Asim Omar Hassan for the first time since his detention in Khartoum North Police Department. “We spoke to him from behind bars. It was emotional.”
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More highlights from Dabanga Sudan:

Darfur rebel proposal to include Qatar mediation ‘bypasses AUHIP roadmap’

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Kidnappers of Coptic pastor ‘have not demanded ransom’

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Sudan’s traffic police corrupt with on-the-spot fines

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650 Sudanese sign petition on Heiban children’s massacre

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Girl raped near Tabit, North Darfur

May 13 – 2016 TABIT A 17-year-old girl was raped west of Tabit in Tawila locality on Thursday. Gunmen attacked her and her aunt while they were collecting firewood. A relative of the girl told Radio Dabanga that the aunt (50) and her niece were out in Katur when the gunmen…

Sudanese, Ugandan Presidents defy ICC

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Rebels claim 32 Sudanese troops killed in South Kordofan battle

May 12 – 2016 SOUTH KORDOFAN Forces of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) claim to have killed 32 Sudanese army troops in a battle in the Angarto area northeast of Talodi in North Kordofan. They also claim to have dispersed another military convoy in the Nuba…

UN and AU Commission heads condemn North Darfur killings

May 12 – 2016 SORTONY The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, condemn Monday’s attacks by armed groups on a Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp and the shooting nearby Sortony…

South Africa to withdraw 'unsupported' troops from Darfur mission

May 12 – 2016 CAPE TOWN South African Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula says a decision has been taken to withdraw the South African defence forces from Darfur in Sudan, due to difficult working conditions. The Minster announced this when she tabled the…

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