The Sudan Journalists Network condemned the arrest of Gafar Alsabki Ibrahim Abu (37), a journalist for Al Sahafa. The Journalists Network described his arrest as a violation of the constitution, international treaties, and the press law.<\/p>\n
Alsabki was Al Sahafa\u2019s writer about Darfur. He was taken on Wednesday afternoon from the newspaper\u2019s premises to an unknown location by an unidentified man claiming to be from the National Security Service. The paper\u2019s editor in chief, Alnur Ahmed Alnur, confirmed the arrest to Radio Dabanga. He said Alsabki is an editor from the town of Um Kedada in Darfur. He said the newspaper does not know where the reporter has been taken, nor what the charges there are against him.<\/p>\n
It is the latest in a wave of arrests against Darfurian human rights activists, lawyers, reporters and students that started last Saturday. In total at least 12 people have been arrested and kept incommunicado. <\/p>\n
The Sudan Journalists Network in a statement denounced the vicious attack carried out by the authorities against journalists. It said the authorities shoudl instead be giving freedom to the press as the country will see a referendum on self determination for the people of South Sudan and a referendum in Abyei, alongside other critical situations being experienced by the country.<\/p>\n
The journalists request that a free press be allowed to do its part in enlightening the people about the seriousness of this stage and alerting them to areas of defect in order to avoid a return to war. The network of journalists called on the authorities to immediately release the detained journalist or provide him a fair trial in accordance with generally accepted standards. The Network has also called on the authorities to release the journalists of the newspaper Rai Al Shaab jailed since last May, in cases related to publishing.<\/p>\n
The Network considered the arrest of Alsabki as another setback of press freedom as guaranteed by the Interim Constitution in the Bill of Rights. The journalists expressed deep concern for his safety.<\/p>\n