El Ayam newspaper gagged in Sudan capital

28/03/2016 13:47 KHARTOUM

Members of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) confiscated the entire print-run of El Ayam daily newspaper in Khartoum in the early hours of Sunday.
No reasons were provided, editor-in-chief Mahjoub Mohamed Salih, told Radio Dabanga.
Salih, who founded the newspaper in 1953, said that an article published previously could be the reason.
“The confiscation on Sunday may have been just a punishment by the security apparatus, causing financial losses to El Ayam, as we have to pay for the printing press.
“Confiscating print-runs also means a violation of the freedom of publication and expression stipulated by a number of Sudanese laws and the 2005 Interim Constitution, but the NISS clearly stands above the law,” he commented.

Members of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) confiscated the entire print-run of El Ayam daily newspaper in Khartoum in the early hours of Sunday.

No reasons were provided, editor-in-chief Mahjoub Mohamed Salih, told Radio Dabanga.

Salih, who founded the newspaper in 1953, said that an article published previously could be the reason.

“The confiscation on Sunday may have been just a punishment by the security apparatus, causing financial losses to El Ayam, as we have to pay for the printing press.

“Confiscating print-runs also means a violation of the freedom of publication and expression stipulated by a number of Sudanese laws and the 2005 Interim Constitution, but the NISS clearly stands above the law,” he commented.