Government has lifted prior censorship rules but press freedom groups concerned over its claim to a constitutional right to total censorship if national unity is threatened by newspapers
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Press freedom groups say they are concerned by an announcement from the Sudanese government that they have a constitutional right to censor journalists.
The announcement follows the director-general of National Intelligence and Security Services' (NISS) declaration on 7 August that prior censorship of Sudan’s newspapers has been lifted.
According to Reporters Without Borders , the head of the NISS press office said that that prior censorship was put in place "to combat the publication of false reports" which could "stir up division".
As a result, security agents had "directly censored critical papers' stories daily
" prior to this week's announcement, the Committee to Protect Journalists also reported .
But a warning by authorities that they have a constitutional right to censor any media means this week's lifting was "a slap in the face", RWB said.
"Prior censorship may have been lifted, but the announcement has been accompanied by so many warnings that it is clear that nothing is going to change," the organisation said in a post on its website. "The situation will remain the same and journalists will not be able to express themselves freely on key issues such as Southern Sudan's autonomy."
In a separate case, Journalism.co.uk reported this week that the the Sudanese government had suspended BBC Arabic from broadcasting on FM radio in four of the country's cities, as of Monday.
