Sudan newspapers refuse to publish after copies are confiscated

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2013/oct/07/press-freedom-sudan

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Newspapers are being confiscated in Sudan and some publishers have decided to suspend production amid increasing protests against the president, Omar al-Bashir.

Security forces confiscated Friday's print run of El Yaum el Tali and the Sunday copies of El Gerida in Khartoum.

Its editor-in-chief, Idris El Dooma, told Radio Dabanga, that it was the sixth occasion on which security forces had confiscated the 10,000 printed copies prior to their distribution.

He believes these are "disciplinary measures and retaliatory attacks" because of the imposition of strict "security restrictions" on the press.

He said the purpose of removing all copies after they are printed is to exhaust the papers' finances. "It is a direct and methodical liquidation, meant to kill the independent press," said El Dooma.

Now the editorial board of another title, al-Jareeda, have decided to suspend publication for two weeks after several editions were seized. The publisher incurred heavy financial losses due to the confiscations.

Meanwhile, two journalists - Mohamed Ali Hamato and Amal Habbani - have been , rearrested and are being held without charge. Their whereabouts are unknown.

The clamp on the media follows continual street demonstrations by people calling for freedom renewing calls for their long-time autocratic president, Omar al-Bashi, to resign.

The initial cause of the protests were austerity measures, such as increased food and fuel prices. But newspapers have come under pressure from the authorities to depict demonstrators as "saboteurs". Most have refused to do so.

On Saturday, Dr Ahmed El Sheikh, head of the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate, was arrested at his clinic in Khartoum after reporting 210 had been killed during the protests. He was released after questioning.

<em>Sources:</em> Sudan Tribune/Radio Dabanga

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