Sudanese journalists are demonstrating today in protest of confiscation of print runs of nine newspapers and suspension of the publishing licences of four of them in a media crackdown.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Sudanese Journalists Network (SJN) said there would be a strike on Wednesday, while a dialogue would be opened with the National Press and Publications Council to meet their needs that were presented in a petition on Tuesday.

On Tuesday the journalists carried banners condemning the continuing press curbs by the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), and demanded freedom of the press, publication, and expression.

The network yesterday called for a demonstration of Sudanese journalists in front of the National Press and Publications Council in Khartoum, in protest against the restriction of press freedoms.

NISS summons activist

Meanwhile, the National Intelligence and Security Service summoned activist Nisrin Ali Mostafa and Secretary General of the Consumer Rights Forum Dr. Yasir Amin over an issue discussed recently by Nisrin on alleged sexual abuse of school- and nursery children on school buses.

“The security and intelligence apparatus told us that al-Jareeda newspaper and three others – al-Khartoum, Akhir Lahza and al-Intibaha – were all suspended for an unspecified time,” said Sharif Abdul-Aziz, Al Jareeda’s chief editor.

Abdul-Aziz told Radio Tamazuj that the newspapers had been suspended over a story about a consumer rights forum where one speaker discussed the sexual abuse of school and nursery children on the buses that transport them.

He further said the activist Nisrin expressed discontent about what happens to the children and accused drivers of harassing the children.

The chief editor pointed out that the decision to seize the papers had come from the head of NISS, while describing the decision as “arbitrary”.

“We have a National Press and Publications Council, so the security had nothing to do with the matter as long as media and publications laws are there,” he explained.

Abdul-Aziz estimated the losses incurred by the newpaper’s management after the suspension at 25 million pounds. Journalists in Sudan have been complaining of pressure and harassment from the security services. The country regularly ranks towards the bottom of press freedom indexes.