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Two independent Sudanese newspapers, al-Maidan and Ajras al-Hurriya, are halting publication in protest at government censorship. Whilst Ajras has had its distribution blocked since Wednesday, al-Maidan has been barred from circulation three times already this month. The government has stepped up censorship in the wake of anti-government protests which started in January of this year.
The National Congress Party (NCP), which governs North Sudan, claims that its battalion of “cyber jihadists” are ready to “crush” all online dissidents. The warning came from the party’s vice-president in Khartoum State, Mandur Al-Mahdi, on Tuesday (March 22). He warned youth groups using social networks sites like Twitter and Facebook that they would be targeted by the NCP’s online defence operations.
As protests against rising food and living costs continue in Khartoum, six journalists and two media staff have been detained by authorities and one student has died of injuries sustained during clash with police. Mohammed Abdulrahman of Ahlia University died in Omdurman hospital after being injured during student protests on 30 January. The detained journalists are Rashid Abd al- Wahab and Ali Ahmad haj al-Amin of Arjas al -Huriya, Sara Taj al-Sir of Al Sahafa, Ahmed Sir al-Khatam of the independent daily akhbar al-Youm, Fatima al-Ghazali of Al-Jarida.
Security officials arrested an Islamist opposition figure in his home in Khartoum on Monday. Hassan al-Turabi was taken into custody a day after he called for a “popular revolution” if the price increases on basic goods were not reversed. In an interview with AFP al-Turabi had said that similar developments to Tunisia could unfold in Sudan. He has been imprisoned and released several times since 2000 when he left Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s ruling party.