07 Oct 10 | Index Index, minipost
The Sudanese Ministry of Information has refused to renew the license of Monte Carlo radio’s Arabic service, which broadcasts in Sudan from Paris. The radio station was told that certain laws and regulations prevent the license renewal from taking place. Similarly vague reasons were given to the BBC, when the British broadcaster’s Arabic radio service was banned from Sudan a few weeks ago. The government has insisted that neither decision was political, but the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) drew attention to the popularity of both stations, leaving no real cause for discontinuing broadcasts.
10 Aug 10 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Reports from Khartoum state that the Sudanese government has suspended BBC radio stations over alleged smuggling offences which included bringing satellite equipment into the country. The stations broadcast in Arabic to around four million people in the north of the country.
Recently the government demanded that journalists in the country provide private information regarding political views, friends, addresses, bank details and floor plans of their houses. The deadline for the return of this information was August 5. Since then the government has announced that it’s official censorship of newspapers has ended, but despite this, some newspapers remain closed and intimidation continues.
12 Jul 10 | Index Index, minipost
Opposition newspaper Al Intibaha, was “suspended indefinitely” on Tuesday 6 July, according to the Sudanese Media Centre. The move comes ahead of January’s referendum on whether the north and south regions of Sudan should become independent states. The head of the Sudanese intelligent services says the closure designed to “contain the negative role played by the paper in strengthening separatist agendas in both south and north Sudan.” The editors of two other newspapers, Al-Tayyar and Al-Ahdath, were contacted by government authorities and forced to rescind articles about conflicts in the south. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is against independence and has called for Sudan to remain united.
08 Jun 10 | Index Index, minipost
The acting editor-in-chief of Sudanese newspaper Ajras Al-Huriya, Faiz Al-Silaik, has announced that the paper will protest censorship by not publishing for one week. The Sudanese authorities introduced pre-publication censorship for two daily newspapers in May. On Saturday the security forces visited four other independent/opposition papers, directly censoring much of their content. The press crackdown is focused on reporting of a doctor’s strike, and the arrest warrant the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued for President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir for war crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan.
