NISS shuts down Al-Jarida

Newspaper says no official reason provided for the ban

The National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) raided the headquarters of the Al Jarida newspaper in Khartoum and forced a ban on its circulation on Tuesday.  Saad Eddin Ibrahim, chief-editor of the independent news daily in Khartoum, said NISS forces raided the office and stalled operations when the newspaper was about to go to press on Monday.

The security service agent asked journalists and other staff members to evacuate the building with their belongings and sealed off the premises of the office.

Saad Eddin Ibrahim said that they had been given no official reasons for the raid and the ban.

Al Jarida had already been suspended twice earlier this year. The newspaper said it received repeated threats from the government to not publish the work of journalists who had earlier been associated with Ajraz Al Huriya newspaper, which had been banned by the country’s Press Council.

Sudan is ranked 172 of 178 countries in the press freedom index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, an international non-governmental organization campaigning for press freedom.