Attacks on the Press in 2010 - Committee to Protect Journalists

Journalists in Prisonthe human rights network. In March 2010, a group of Syrian humanrights organizations issued a statement calling for his release. The governmenthas refused to disclose details about his legal status.Sudan: 3imprisoned: may 16, 2010Ashraf Abdelaziz, Rai al-ShaabTahir Abu Jawhara, Rai al-ShaabAbu Zar Ali al-Amin, Rai al-ShaabDeputy Editor Al-Amin and reporters Abu Jawhara and Abdelazizwere arrested when Sudanese security forces raided Rai al-Shaab’s officesin Khartoum, confiscating documents and equipment, accordingto news reports. Authorities closed the newspaper, which was ownedby the opposition Popular Congress Party.The editor-in-chief, Yassin Omar al-Imam, told CPJ that the raid cameshortly after the daily published an article claiming that Iran hadconstructed a weapons factory in Sudan intended to supply Islamistinsurgents in Africa and the Middle East. The report has not beenindependently corroborated.In July, a criminal court in Khartoum sentenced al-Amin to five yearsin prison, and Abdelaziz and Abu Jawhara to two years apiece, accordingto their lawyer, Abdelomneim Osman Idriss. He said the journalistshad been convicted of “undermining the constitutional system”and “publishing false information.” The three were being held in KoberPrison in Khartoum, a facility notorious for abusive treatment ofinmates.Syria: 2imprisoned: december 17, 2007Ali al-Abdallah, freelanceAl-Abdallah, a freelance journalist who regularly contributed to prominentArabic-language newspapers outside Syria, was arrested in 2007in connection with his political activism. A leader of the DamascusDeclaration, a reform movement calling for democratic change inSyria, al-Abdallah was sentenced to 30 months in prison.399