27 Sep 2009

As Sudan prepares for the first general elections in decades, President Omar al-Beshir lifts censorship on the press.

"As of today, censorship is over and journalists have complete freedom," said a presidential decree carried by the official SUNA news agency on Sunday.

Head of the country's Press Council, Ali Shimo, said the "pre-censorship" system was called off after editors, journalists' associations and censors signed an "ethics code" for practicing journalism.

Up to now, a group of government-led sensors screened newspapers every night before hitting the stands to purge them of "sensitive" articles despite a law guaranteeing "freedom of the press".

Under the law, passed in parliament in June, the press were granted freedom but banned from "provoking religious or ethnic or racial sedition or calling for war or violence," while "respecting and protecting public ethics, religious values" and those found guilty of violating the press law had to pay a fixed penalty set by the courts.

But in practice, the law was impractical and the censors continued their job. The new press law and lifting of censorship will only be applied to the written press and not to television.

Sudan is to hold its first general elections in April, the first one since 1986. The national vote for Sudanese presidential, parliamentary and regional elections has twice been delayed.


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