According to a source on the ground in Sudan, National Scurity forces prevented the distribution of Al-Maydan, the newspaper belonging to the Sudanese Communist party on 13 September. Yesterday was the fifth confiscation of the tri-weekly newspaper since last week. Other newspapers have also been confiscated on multiple occasions in the past month.
Al-Sahafa, a Sudanese independent newspaper, was confiscated by security forces on Wednesday, and the Thursday edition was also held from distribution, according to editor Annur Ahmed Annur. Earlier this week, copies of Al-Maydan, the newspaper of Sudan’s communist party, were also confiscated.
On Sunday, Sudanese security forces confiscated issues of Al-Maydan, the bi-weekly mouthpiece of the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP). According to the newspaper, this is the sixth time in the last four months that copies have been confiscated.
Between 20 and 23 August, Al-Jaridah, a Khartoum-based Arabic daily newspaper, had issues confiscated by members of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS). According to a press release, no official reason was given for the suspension. However, editor-in-chief Saad Al-Din Ibrahim believes that the paper was suspended because of their refusal to comply with the NISS’s persistence in interfering with the paper’s editorial and recruitment policy. Recently, officials have confiscated a number of publications without explanation, are currently revising Sudan’s press and publications law, and are considering pre-publication censorship.