A Khartoum criminal court on Thursday sentenced three senior members of the opposition daily Rai Al Shaab (People’s Opinion) to jail terms ranging two to five years on charges of “publishing incorrect information” and “attacking the state with a view to undermining the constitutional system.”
Deputy editor Abuzur Al Amin was given a five-year sentence while editor Ashraf Abdelaziz, and political editor Altahir Ibrahim received two-year sentences. The fourth journalist on trial, Ramadan Mahgoub, was acquitted. All four had been held since May. The court also ordered the newspaper’s closure and the seizure of all the assets of the company that owns it.
Their lawyers said they would appeal. Most of the country’s newspapers decided not to bring out an issue Friday in protest.
“These three journalists have been convicted just for doing their job,” Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said. “These verdicts are unjust and are clearly aimed at silencing the opposition press in Sudan. We firmly condemn this kind of intimidation.”
The four journalists were arrested on May 16, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Rai al-Shaab was shut the same day. The arrest and the closure of the newspaper stemmed from an May article alleging that Iran had built a weapons factory in Sudan to supply insurgents in Africa and the Middle East. The paper also published an opinion piece claiming that President Omar al-Bashir does not enjoy wide support among the Sudanese people.
On Thursday, a criminal court in Khartoum sentenced Abu Zar Ali al-Amin, the paper’s deputy editor, to five years in prison. Two reporters, Ashraf Abdelaziz and Tahir Abu Jawhara, were sentenced to two years in prison each, their lawyer, Abdelomneim Osman Idriss told CPJ. The journalists were convicted of “undermining the constitutional system” and “publishing false information,” Idriss said. The three are being held in Kober Prison in Khartoum, which is notorious for its abusive treatment of detainees.
“We call on the appeals court to overturn this politicized verdict and to reopen the newspaper” said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. “It is outrageous that the Sudanese authorities penalise opposition journalists and close their newspaper. This practice needs to stop.”
Idriss questioned the court’s authority to close the newspaper, citing Sudanese law that empowers only the Sudanese Press Council to take such action. The trial itself raised questioned of fairness, CPJ research shows. Defence lawyers who initially represented the journalists withdrew from the case on June 16 to protest the judges' refusal to accept some of their witnesses.
The Popular Congress Party is led by Hassan al-Turabi, one of the top critics of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Al-Turabi was arrested on May 15, hours before the security agents raided Rai al-Shaab. He was released without charge on July 1, according to news reports.
