Reporters Without Borders today condemned the closure of the independent Arabic-language daily Al-Sudani on 16 May as a result of a complaint by the justice minister about an article accusing him of lying.
“Closing a newspaper is a violation of democratic freedoms,” the press freedom organisation said. “President Omar Al-Bashir solemnly undertook to support democratisation in Sudan in a speech to several African presidents, the UN secretary-general, and US and European officials in July 2005. The authorities should respect that undertaking and guarantee press freedom in Sudan.”
Officials went to the premises of Al-Sudani on 16 May, confiscated the plates of the next day’s issue as it was about to be printed, and handed over a letter from the prosecutor’s office ordering the newspaper’s closure because of a column by Osman Mirghani in that day’s issue accusing justice minister Mohamed Ali al-Mardhi of “lying about a money-laundering case” before the courts.
Al-Sudani will remain closed until the courts reach their verdict on the minister’s libel complaint. Mirghani and editor Mahgoub Orwa have been arrested under three-day, renewable detention orders.
