Three Darfuris detained since a year; press freedom deteriorating in Sudan

Three Darfuri activists have been in prison since one year ago on charges of undermining state security and breaking the media law for collaborating with Radio Dabanga, a radio station that broadcasts from the Netherlands to the people of Darfur. After a year, a court case is still pending against several Darfurians who were arrested after attending a youth forum about the future of Darfur. They were accused for being collaborators for Radio Dabanga.The three detained Darfuris, among 15 people who were arrested one year ago, are still under detention. The men who remain in detention in Khartoum’s Kober prison are Abdelrahman Adam, Zakaria Yaqoub and Adam Al Nur. They face charges including ‘waging a war against the nation’ and ‘threatening the Constitution’.Earlier this year, four others – Abdulrahman Gassim, Kauthar Abdel Haq, Khalid Ishaq and Jaafar Al Sabky– were released on bail by a court in Khartoum. They are facing similar charges.Al Sabky, a newspaper journalist, was released after president Omar Al Bashir promised during an  Iftar meal the release of ‘all Darfur journalists’. A decree to formalize this promise was never issued and the prosecutor failed during the last session to produce the presidential decree. For that reason the chairman of the court resumed the trial against all defendants, including Al Sabky. The trial of the seven accused had begun on June 13 in Khartoum.Defense team: ‘Grant general amnesty’Mohammed Abdullah Duma, lawyer and spokesperson for the defense team, told Radio Dabanga today: “The defendants have spent a whole year in prison. The court, which began its case last June, held 14 meetings but six were canceled and postponed owing to various reasons. Some of them include problems with witnesses turning hostile and others are related to the presidential decree to pardon the journalist Jaafar al Sabky.”Duma said that the court was meant to have a hearing on Wednesday which was the last chance for it to bring witnesses to the trial. If the witnesses failed to turn up, the judge would have the right to interrogate the accused and arrive at a decision. Duma told Radio Dabanga that the signing of the Doha peace agreement demands an implementation of general amnesty for all those who are detained and on trial for cases referring to the Darfur crisis.Journalists condemn detentionThe Union of Independent Journalists condemned the detention of the three Darfuris in the case. The group, which is not recognized by the government, raised questions about the deteriorating standards of press freedom in the country. “The situation in Sudan is declining every day and it is becoming more and more dangerous as a number of newspapers are shut down like Al Jarida and Ajras Al Hurriya and many other English publications,” the group’s spokesperson said.“The stalling of the presidential decree to free Al Sabky only shows the country’s lack of commitment for civil liberties. They don’t even respect the decision of the President,” he added. The journalists further called upon activists and human rights activists to pay attention to the dangerous situation in Sudan.Show of solidarityThe coalition of opposition forces in Sudan, the Forces of National Consensus, expressed their solidarity towards the detainees in the case as well as other ‘prisoners of conscience’ in Sudan. Kamal Omar Abdel Salam, leader of the forces of national consensus, called them “prisoners of the regime in Khartoum” who were targeted because of their differing opinions about establishing a free and democratic country.After a press conference in Khartoum, he told Radio Dabanga that the allegations leveled against the seven defendants were “silly and funny”. “It only confirms that the justice system in Sudan is no longer independent. As agents of national consensus, Radio Dabanga is considered to be a free and independent medium which provides free speech for all Sudanese people,” Salam said. He emphasized that the radio station for Darfur is a media outlet which is ‘in no way forbidden by any criminal law or the Constitution’ nor by any other law in the country.