Briefing from Midan , Newspaper of the Communist Party of Sudan

Briefing from Midan

Newspaper of the Communist Party of Sudan

To:

Newspapers, national and international news agencies.
Human rights organisations and all organisations concerned with the defence of the freedom of expression and press freedoms.
Comprehensive Peace Agreement assessment mission.



Midan newspaper was not issued Tuesday 10th February 2009 as a consequence of security pre-censorship that has continuously targeted the newspaper in the previous period, in a form and fashion that is both biased and excessive, and that obviously violates our right in expression as stipulated in the Interim Constitution of Sudan (2005) and in recognised international agreements and conventions.
The Sudanese security staff responsible for pre-censorship of Midan omitted the leading editorial which represents our weekly opinion in current affairs concerning our nation and our people. It has become a habit for security personnel to target the Midan editorial in the past number of months.
Additionally a number of political news articles were censored, albeit their publication in other daily newspapers. Moreover the first page main sheet was censored as well as the leading political commentary, a piece discussing our opinion on the conflict in Darfur and its tragic consequences and our perception of a possible model for its resolution. All these articles were on the first page of the last edition of our paper.
The censorship attack on Midan extended to six other pages of the newspaper, including 4 complete articles and omission a number of key paragraphs in six others.
We herewith preserve the right to pursue all the measures possible to ensure our rights.



Midan Administration .




Copies to :
The National Press and Publication Council .