Al-Maidan: We are being systematically attacked

Mob Photo Credit: Spotlight on Sudan

The Editor-in-Chief of Al-Midan Arabic-daily says her newspaper continues to be the target of a systematic campaign by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), pointing out that the NISS’s latest attack was ordering a complete boycott of the paper by printing houses and distributors.

In a press conference she held yesterday at the paper's offices, Al-Midan's Chief Editor, Madiha Abduallah explained that despite the announcement by the 1^st Vice President Ali Osman Taha, to end the prepublication-censorship and bans on newspapers, the NISS issued a publication ban through verbal orders to all printing houses and distribution firms not to conduct business with the paper in future.

"We were ordered, the first time, to make the required legal adjustments, as conditions for reissuing and resuming our journalistic work, and there was no problem regarding this, since we are committed to the ethics of journalism" Madiha said, adding that the NISS’s plan B was to prevent the paper from printing and distributing through the boycott. “We were surprised when they ‘the distributors’ refused to do business with us, and demanded a renewal of the distribution contract, and it later came to our knowledge that the NISS was behind all this”, said Madiha.

“NISS directives were issued to all printing houses, despite the fact that we signed a new contract with another distribution company", Madiha added.

Madiha pointed out that the paper informed the Press Council of the new developments, urging it to play its assigned role of protecting journalists and newspapers and to put an end to restrictions on press and journalists, including pre-censorship of the press and the ban on freedom of expression imposed by the NISS, while advising any aggrieved party which feels it has been harmed by the press to follow the proper legal channels.

She stressed that the paper will follow all legal procedures required through the relevant authorities to resume publishing.

For his part, the spokesperson for the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP), Yousif Hussein said that as a duly registered political party the SCP has the right to own a newspaper. Hussein pointed out that his party will follow all legal channels, through the press council and the political parties' registrar to reissue its paper, adding that the paper will continue working either by publishing its online version or "underground edition", until it is allowed

to resume publication.

Al-Midan is a fully-licensed, official party newspaper said Hussein, emphasizing the illegality of the NISS’s actions.

The National Press and Publications Council, has earlier said it welcomes the government’s decision to end the prepublication-censorship and bans on newspapers, while noting that it understands the circumstances that prompted censorship in the past; a move was seen by many observers as a justifications for NISS’s actions and by leaving the door open for it to be reintroduced should similar circumstances occur in future.