{"id":177749,"date":"2017-08-21T13:35:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-21T11:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dabangasudan.preview.websight.nl\/print-run-of-sudanese-el-sayha-newspaper-confiscated\/"},"modified":"2022-12-29T02:54:10","modified_gmt":"2022-12-29T01:54:10","slug":"print-run-of-sudanese-el-sayha-newspaper-confiscated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/print-run-of-sudanese-el-sayha-newspaper-confiscated","title":{"rendered":"Print-run of Sudanese El Sayha newspaper confiscated"},"content":{"rendered":"

Agents of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) <\/strong>seized<\/strong> the entire print-run of <\/strong>El Sayha<\/strong><\/em> newspaper on Sunday morning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“As usual, a reason was not provided,” the Sudanese Journalists Network (SJNet) said in a press statement on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The network further pointed to the repeated summoning of Seifeldin Haroun, eastern Sudan correspondent for El Sayha<\/em> and El Watan<\/em>, before the NISS lodged an official complaint against him because of his reporting about bread shortages in Kassala<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Journalist Abdallah El Sheikh has been summoned more than once as well because of a column he wrote on the subject for the Akhir Lahza<\/em> daily newspaper.<\/p>\n

SJNet deplores the attempts of the authorities to gag the press, and calls on “journalists and human rights defenders to unite in order to protect the freedom of expression.<\/p>\n

“The network will be the spearhead in the battle. Free press or no press,” the statement concludes.<\/p>\n

In July, Maha El Tileb<\/a>, reporting for El Tayyar<\/em>, was detained by the NISS for several hours following the publication of an interview with a state minister and director of the President's Office.<\/p>\n

The print-runs of newspapers El Jareeda <\/em>and <\/strong>El Wifag <\/em>were confiscated in july as well. According to the editor-in-chief of El Jareeda<\/em><\/a> “The reason for the confiscation was a column published in the newspaper entitled ‘Exploitation of Influence’, by employees of the security apparatus.” On 10 July, all copies of El Zawya<\/em> sports newspaper were taken from the printing press by security officers, because of a report on a debacle between the international football association FIFA and the Sudanese government.<\/p>\n

Restrictions<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the past years, the NISS upgraded its already severe restrictions on press freedoms by restoring 'pre-publication censorship' and issuing a number of 'red lines' on matters that are not supposed to be covered by the media.<\/p>\n

The purpose of confiscating print-runs is to exhaust the newspapers financially, the editor-in-chief of El Jareeda <\/em><\/em>newspaper earlier explained to Radio Dabanga. “It is in fact a direct and methodical liquidation, meant to kill the independent press,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Sudan scores 86 points out of 100 (0=Most Free\/100=Least Free) on the list of 201 countries in the Freedom of the Press 2017 report of the USA-based Freedom House.<\/p>\n