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Follow our in-depth coverage of anti-government demonstration |
Demonstration held as government
merges ministries and opposition parties sign common charter for democratic
transition.
More than 100 Sudanese
journalists have protested in Khartoum against censorship and other media
restrictions, activists have said, amid a government crackdown on unprecedented
anti-government demonstrations.
"It was a very big crowd
compared to other events we organised before," veteran journalist Faisal
Mohammed Salih said on Wednesday.
He said scores of his colleagues
gathered in front of Sudan's Human Rights Commission but others, blocked by
state security agents, clustered nearby in three or four groups.
Security agents told the
journalists not to hoist banners, Salih added.
The journalists submitted a
written memo to the rights commission, "complaining about censorship and
continued harassment of journalists", he said.
"We know that they are going
to do nothing but anyway they welcomed us," and said they are working to
improve freedom of expression.
Salih said there were "small
clashes" with security forces and two journalists were briefly detained.
'Growing censorship'
On Saturday, Catherine Ashton,
the European Union foreign policy chief, had expressed concern at "growing
levels of censorship and restrictions on the media and the political opposition
in Sudan, including the detention of a number of journalists and political
activists".
Canada and the UK have made
similar statements since protests against the government of President Omar
al-Bashir, sparked by austerity measures and rising prices, began more than two
weeks ago across Sudan.
Subsidy cuts increased the cost
of public transportation and doubled the price of fuel and food.
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Supporters from Sudan's main opposition parties sign a document requesting for democratic alternatives |
Follow our in-depth coverage of
anti-government demonstrations
The unprecedented demonstrations
by students and others have been met by what the EU called "a violent
crackdown".
On Friday, armed security agents raided
the bureau of the AFP news agency in Khartoum and detained a freelance
photographer after he arrived with pictures he had taken of an anti-government
protest.
The photographer was released
after almost 24 hours.
Two weeks ago, national security
agents held AFP correspondent Simon Martelli for 14 hours without charge after
he talked to students and took pictures at the University of Khartoum, where
the protests originated.
Egyptian Salma El Wardany, a
correspondent for international news wire Bloomberg, was deported last week
after also being detained while trying to cover the country's protest movement.
Even before the June 16 outbreak
of demonstrations against high prices, journalists and press freedom advocates
said there had been a worsening government attack against critical voices over
the past year, with journalists banned from writing, newspapers confiscated
after printing, and some ordered to suspend publication.
Ministries merged
Sudan's state news agency said
that five government ministries will be merged as part of the austerity
measures.
Supporters from Sudan's main
opposition parties sign a document requesting for democratic alternatives.
The latest move was approved by
Bashir on Wednesday by and reduces the number of cabinet posts from 31 to 26. Bashir
has explained the need for belt-tightening steps by noting that since the
secession of South Sudan, oil revenues have dwindled.
He also pointed to the cost of
the ongoing conflict with South Sudan.
Also on Wednesday, mainstream
opposition parties officially declared "the start of a peaceful campaign
to topple the government".
In a rare show of unity, the
parties agreed on a political charter for the post-government period.
The members of the National
Consensus signed the "Democratic Alternative" during a news
conference in Khartoum.
They say the document will
prevent a power vacuum and pave the way for an orderly transfer of power if
Bashir falls.
The president, who has been in
power for 23 years, has also been charged by the International Criminal Court
with war crimes over a long conflict in Darfur.