Finally, SJU breaks its silence on violations!

The Sudanese Journalists Union (SJU) affirmed that the decision to suspend publication of Alintibaha and Al-Mijhar Arabic dailies will harm their employees, calling on the relevant authorities which issued the decision to resort to legal channels.

In a statement it issued on Sunday, the SJU said it realizes that the country's current circumstances require discretion on the part of journalists as far as publishing information related to the army and its movement, other than through the official spokesman of the armed forces, pointing out that this is advocated by the press law.

The union called on the aggrieved parties to resort to the law which “is quite capable of guaranteeing their rights and deterring those who abuse them”, pointing out that Article 35 (B) of the Press Law gives the National Press and Publication Council the right to suspend printing for a period specified by the court.

The union stressed that the aggrieved parties should report their complaints to the Council or the press attorney, in case of any negative publishing, pointing out that the indefinite suspension of a newspaper affects employees and goes against “humanitarian principles”.

The above- long-awaited- move by the Journalists Union comes at a time when the overwhelming majority of journalists are now feeling that the fourth estate is in its death throes, as a result of the heavy-handed treatment to which it’s subjected.

The matter isn’t confined to freedom of expression, but also the right to work since journalists and writers earn their living from writing. This move it is hoped will create a favorable political environment for the press to carry along with its mission. 

We strongly support and endorse the union’s move to completely abolish this and similar decisions aimed at clamping down on the press and freedom of expression.

We are also glad to finally see the SJU taking action against repeated violations that target and threaten the future of journalism in the country, and we hope that the editors-in-chief of the dailies would adopt a united stand and blow the whistle on such unprecedented clamp down and hostility against journalists.

Last but not least, we call on the authorities to return to their senses and to immediately stop the clamp down on the press and journalists, and to review their hard-line attitude against freedom of opinion and expression, which contravenes international and humanitarian norms and conventions.