SUDAN POLITICAL ALERT: Reporters Without Borders - Sudan : Press freedom still in transition a year after Omar al-Bashir’s removal
Reporters Without Borders (RWB) urges Sudan’s transitional government to accelerate press freedom, with news control being exercised “more insidiously,” despite the decline of systematic media harassment.
RWB cite the case of Lubna Abdella, dismissed by al-Sudan al-Dawlia after an investigative story about corruption within the human rights commission.
Hassan Ahmed Berkia, a member of the Sudanese Journalists Network (SJN), said: “most of the 18 daily newspapers that cover politics continue to be affiliated or close to supporters of the former regime and economic conditions prevent the arrival of new actors.”
RWB add that the former regime’s interests are defended online by a “Cyber Jihadist Unit,” a troll army created by the intelligence services to spy on the opposition and journalists.
RSF add that the government has not consulted media outlets and the journalists’ organisations that were most critical of the former regime in the drafting of press freedom legislation.