Editors-in-chief need to make a strong stand

Mr. Al-Nour, photo credit: Aljazeera.net

In the news, the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) notified the Editor-in-chief of Al-Sahafa dailynewspaper, Al-Nour Ahmed Al-Nour that he must resign his post and see to it that his name is removed from the paper’s letterhead.

The NISS went further by threatening the paper  with confiscation and a publishing ban should Al-Nour be allowed continue to work as Editor-in-chief in defiance of this directive; forcing it to take Al-Nour’s name off and replace it with the name of an acting Editor-in-chief!

Security authorities did not cite cause for Al-Nour’s suspension, but according to news reports, the newspaper has recently come under enormous pressure in the form of pre-printing censorship and was barred from publishing news and articles critical of either the ruling National Congress Party or the government.

  

Security authorities have become infamous for targeting press freedom through a range of tactics, including the financially draining confiscation of entire print-runs, instigating legal proceedings against journalists and banning individual journalists from writing and occasionally giving orders to editors-in-chief via phone text messages not to report on certain events in the next day’s edition.

What is most curious is that there has been no reaction from the daily newspapers' chief editors to signal their rejection of the unfortunate move, or at least to express solidarity with their colleague. Even worse, not a single article has been published on the incident, with the exception of a courageous effort by veteran writer Faisal Mohamed Salih, who was forced to post his article on the more welcoming social media “Facebook” because, it too, was banned from publishing in print!

Editors-in-chief should make a strong stand against this and other types of infringement aimed at clamping down on the press and freedom of expression.

This constitutes serious curtailment of freedom of expression, and we demand that the press council revise its position and intervene in favor of freedom of expression guaranteed by the interim constitution and basic principles of human rights.

We also call on every journalist to resist all attempts to quash a free press and to keep people informed about what goes on in this country.

We are waiting for editors-in-chief of to make a united stand against the repeated violations that target and threaten the future of journalism in the country, and we hope that they would join hands to raise a red flag and say no to this unprecedented clampdown on journalism.

We also call on the authorities to adopt a more sensible approach, and to immediately end their crackdown on the press and reconsider their hostile attitude against freedom of opinion and expression, which runs counter to international humanitarian norms and conventions.