Two freelance journalists, Nasr Yaqoub and Mohamed Ahmed Nazar, were arrested on Monday, 7 July at Yaqoub’s stall in Abu Shouk Camp market in El Fasher, North Darfur, by members of the Sudan Liberation Movement – Transitional Council (SLM-TC), an armed group affiliated with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the arbitrary arrest of journalists Yaqoub and Mohamed Ahmed in the strongest possible terms and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.
According to local reports from Sudan, the arrest of journalists Yaqoub and Mohamed Ahmed came after Yaqoub’s public claim that an SLM-TC fighter shot him the week before after he refused to surrender his Starlinksatellite-internet device. This claim was also posted on social media by Mohamed Ahmed.
Both journalists were detained at the SLM-TC headquarters in El Fasher.
Responding to the shooting of journalist Nasr Yaqoub, the military spokesperson of the SLM-TC accused Yaqoub of allegedly “violating security, and military directives in the Abu Shouk Camp and refusing to comply with restrictions imposed on satellite internet centres”.
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said that the arrest of journalists Nasr Yaqoub and Mohamed Ahmed Nazar is arbitrary and totally unnecessary and can only be seen as an act of intimidation towards and repression of journalists who are simply doing their jobs. “Why shoot at a journalist in the first place for only refusing to hand over an internet device? Such acts must be condemned and those responsible must be brought to justice. The Sudanese Armed Forces must ensure that the fighters within their ranks demonstrate discipline and commitment inprotecting civilians.”
The International Federation of Journalists calls on the SAF to release journalists Nasr Yaqoub and Mohamed Ahmed Nazar with immediate effect and unconditionally.
