The former general director of Radio and TV Public Authority, Amin Hassan Omar, was arrested in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, and was transferred to a prison located in the northern section of the city. On the same day, journalist Khuwailid Abdel-Azim and his colleague Saleh Muhammad Ahmed were also detained in the capital city. Ahmed was previously fired from ‘Al-Shorouk TV’, according to SJU.
Journalist and social media activist, Yasser Al-Attar, was arrested by a police unit in the state of Gedaref, located in eastern Sudan.
The arrested journalists and media personalities are accused of inciting the violent demonstrations that happened a few weeks ago in the north of Sudan. Protesters complained of the high prices and scarcity of bread and fuel, according to media reports.
These arrests came two days after the detention of editor and owner of Alwan newspaper, Al Masaa Radio and satellite TV channel Omdurman, Hussein Khojaly, who was accused of committing “crimes against the state”. He remains in a cell in the northern prison of Khartoum, despite his delicate health condition.
Omar and Khojaly are also members of the dissolved National Congress Party (NCP), the ruling party under the previous president Omar al Bashir, who was removed from power in April 2019.
SJU said in a statement: “We condemn these repressive measures in the strongest terms and press the Sudanese government to release our colleagues immediately and without delay.”
IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: “The IFJ is deeply concerned over the increasing number of arrests of journalists for simply doing their job. We call on the Sudanese authorities to release all the imprisoned colleagues immediately.”
