19 June 2017•Update: 19 June 2017
By Mohammed Amin
KHARTOUM
A prominent Sudanese journalist declared a one-man strike Monday to protest the confiscation of his newspaper -- for the third consecutive day -- by Sudanese security agencies.
Luay Abdul-Rahman, editor-in-chief of Sudanese daily Akhir Lahza, told Anadolu Agency that the confiscations constituted a “setback” for media freedoms in Sudan.
“I have announced my decision to stop working to protest these violations against Sudanese newspapers and journalists,” he said.
On Monday, Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services confiscated Akhir Lahza’s daily edition for the third day in a row.
According to Abdul-Rahman, security officers failed to provide any reasons for the confiscations.
The Sudanese journalists Network, an NGO, has strongly criticized the confiscations, calling on the country’s journalists to unite in opposition to the move.
In a Monday statement, the NGO accused the authorities of regularly seizing print copies of opposition newspapers -- not only to censor the news contained therein, but also to weaken them financially.
According to the Journalists for Human Rights network, another NGO, the Sudanese authorities have confiscated newspaper print editions a total of 66 times in the period from May 3, 2016 to May 3 of this year.
The Paris-based Reporters without Borders, for its part, has described Sudan as one of the worst offenders in terms of press freedoms.
