The head office of Al Sudani newspaper, an independent political newspaper, was stormed by government security forces on 25 December 2018, according to a statement issued on 26 December by the Sudanese Journalists Network on Alrakoba website. According to the statement, the security forces attacked, insulted and fired live bullets at male and female journalists inside the premises of the newspaper in Khartoum to intimidate them. The statement said the journalists were attacked because of carrying out their professional duty of covering the popular protests erupted in the country since a week. December 25 was the day set by the Sudanese Professional Association for the people to peacefully gather to march to the Presidential Palace to hand over a petition demanding surrender of power to the people.

The Sudanese Journalists Network – a civic network of media activists working to monitor violations against the right of journalists to freedom of expression, publication and receiving information – published names of nine male and female journalists reportedly detained while covering the protests and subsequently freed. The Network condemned the repeated confiscation of newspapers, targeting and intimidating journalists and jeopardizing their lives because of carrying out their professional duty.

Sudan’s laws guarantee freedom of press and other media as regulated by the law in a democratic society. Article 39 of the Interim Constitution of the Sudan provides: “Every citizen shall have an unrestricted right to the freedom of expression, reception and dissemination of information, publication, and access to the press without prejudice to order, safety or public morals as determined by law”.

Article 5 (2) of the Press and Publication Act 2009 provides that freedom of journalistic publication shall not be restricted except as determined by the law.

Source: Alrakoba