H.E Omar Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir
President General
Revolutionary Command Council
Khartoum
Sudan
c/o Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan
Vienna, Austria
Vienna, 5 February 2001
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives, strongly condemns the decision by a Sudanese court to imprison two journalists after they failed to pay fines handed down to them by the court.
According to the information before IPI, on 4 February, Amal Abbas, editor of the newspaper Al-Rai Al-Akher and Ibrahim Hassan, a reporter with the newspaper, were sentenced by the court to serve three-months imprisonment for failing to pay a fine of 15 million Sudanese pounds (US$5,800) imposed on them after the court found them guilty of libel.
The charges were based on an article, written last August by Hassan, alleging corruption in the local government in Khartoum state. The court said the information in the article was “incorrect” and “damaging” to Khartoum state and also ordered the newspaper to pay a fine of one billion Sudanese pounds (US$390,000) for publishing the article.
It is IPI’s belief that the fines imposed on the newspaper and the two journalists are disproportionate to the alleged crime. Moreover, the decision to imprison them is in gross violation of everyone’s right to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”, as guaranteed by Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Furthermore, the matter becomes more troubling considering the fact that the article that formed the basis of the charges concerned itself with a government institution. Official institutions have ample opportunity to counter any accusation of wrongdoing brought against them. Indeed, governments can use a number of channels, including the media, to respond to allegations made against them.
Therefore, IPI urges Your Excellency to ensure that the sentences against the two journalists are annulled. Moreover, IPI urges Your Excellency to take the necessary steps to ensure that cases of libel, including cases of slander and defamation, are settled in civil courts and that any damages imposed are reasonable and proportionate to the injury claimed.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director
