Sudan has deported Tunisian journalist Zouhir Latif. Latif, who has political refugee status in Britain, was put on a flight bound for London on Sunday, according to Reporters sans Frontières (RSF).
A freelance journalist who works for France 24’s Arabic-language service and the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, Latif was arrested at his home by intelligence agents on February 27 and was held for 48 hours before being expelled. RSF has condemned the decision.
“We call on the Sudanese authorities to urgently explain this arrest, which comes less than a month after the expulsion of Heba Aly, a journalist with Canadian and Egyptian dual citizenship. The government must publicly say where Latif is being detained and what he is charged with," RSF had said shortly after Latif was detained.
Latif had just spent 21 days in the western region of Darfur although the travel permits issued to the journalists by the authorities are usually for periods no longer than two weeks. According to local sources, his arrest could be linked to this visit to Darfur and the fact that he also works for the World Food Programme, a UN agency.
Heba Aly, who was working in Sudan for various international news media including Bloomberg News and IRIN (a UN humanitarian news agency), was deported on February 2. Her expulsion may have been linked to her visits to Darfur and her reporting on the local arms industry.
