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14Detained*Abdullahi Hussein DARWISH: journalist for Waaheen newspaper innorthern Somalia was arrested on 24 April 2012 and was accused of‘spreading false news’. PEN is seeking more information.*Mohamed Abdi HASSAN (nicknamed “Boosh”) and Hassan OmanHASSAN: respectively reporter for the online publication Ramaas News,and reporter with the independent newspaper Ogaal, were arrested on20 February 2012 in Hargeisa by Somaliland police. Police allegedlyaccused the journalists of “spreading false news,” a standard charge madeby the authorities for the publication of news they do not like.Brief detention*Mohamed OMAR: journalist for independent newspapers Sahafi wasarrested on 11 January 2011 in Boorama, Awdal region. He was releasedon 12 January, without knowing the reason behind his arrest.SUDANImprisoned: InvestigationJamal Osman HAMAD: Eritrean journalist and editorial writer for theopposition website www.adoulis.com, was detained by Sudanese securityforces in Khartoum on 24 October 2011. He is being held at an unknownlocation in the capital and since his arrest friends and family have notbeen able to obtain any news of him. Hamad has worked in Sudan for anumber of years and is known for his criticism of President Afeworki andfor his articles on the political situation in the Horn of Africa. No furthernews at 30 June 2012.On trialAbuzar AL-AMIN: deputy editor of the opposition daily newspaper Raial-Shaab. Date of arrest: 16 May 2010. Sentence: one year. Expires:3 July 2011 – remains detained for further investigation. Details ofarrest: Al-Amin was arrested along with Rai al-Shaab reporter andpolitical editor Ashraf Abdelaziz and Altahir Ibrahim (known asAbo Jawharah) during a raid by the National Intelligence and SecurityServices (NISS) on the newspaper’s offices in Khartoum on 16 May2010. NISS agents confiscated equipment and copies of the latest issueof the paper and closed the newspaper down until further notice. Twoother Rai al-Shaab employees were reportedly also arrested. All threejournalists were detained incommunicado. Charges: On 25 May 2010,Al-Amin was charged with “undermining the constitution,” “terrorismand espionage,” “publishing false news,” “undermining the prestige ofthe State” and “inciting sedition”, crimes that can carry the death penalty.Trial/ sentences: The trial of the three journalists began on 11 June 2010.On 15 July 2010 they were convicted of “undermining the constitutionalsystem” and “publishing false information”. Al-Amin was sentencedto five years in prison while Abdelaziz and Ibrahim received two-yearsentences. A fourth Rai al-Shaab reporter on trial, Ramadan Mahjub,was acquitted. The court also ordered the newspaper’s closure and theseizure of all the assets of the company that owns it. Both Abdelazizand Ibrahim were subsequently released on 6 February 2011 after theirsentences were reduced on appeal (see below). Allegations of tortureand ill treatment: During his initial detention, Al-Amin was reportedlytortured and otherwise ill treated by NISS agents, including being givenelectric shocks. When his family was allowed to visit him five days after hisarrest, he was injured and complained of back pain, blood in his urine andinsomnia. Ibrahim was also reportedly tortured and ill treated. Furthercharges: In May 2011, Al-Amin’s prison sentence was reduced from fiveyears to one year, meaning he should have been released on 3 July 2011.However, in late June 2011 prison officials informed him that he wouldinstead be transferred to the custody of State Security Prosecution forfurther investigation. Two new complaints have been brought against himby the NISS. The first relates to articles written for Rai al-Shaab beforehis imprisonment, for which he faces the same charges on which he hasalready been convicted: criminal conspiracy (article 21 and 24 of thecriminal code), criminal offences (article 26), attacks on the state aimedat undermining the constitutional system (article 50) and publishing falseinformation (article 66). He is also reportedly facing charges under article24 of the press law (on the responsibilities of editors) and article 26 (onthe duties of journalists). The charge under article 50 of the criminal codecarries a possible death sentence. The second complaint was lodged bya security officer whom Al-Amin claimed had tortured him during hispre-trial detention in May 2010. The officer says that Al-Amin inflicted“grievous bodily harm” upon him. According to Al-Amin’s family, thejournalist was simply defending himself. The torture allegations weredenied by the security forces and were reportedly never investigated. Al-Amin is being held in Kober Prison in Khartoum, which is notoriousfor its abusive treatment of detainees. Background: The raid on Rai al-Shaab was apparently triggered by a 14 May 2010 article alleging thatIran had built a weapons factory in Sudan to supply insurgents in Africaand the Middle East. The ruling National Congress Party dismissed thereport as false and a scheme by the opposition Popular Congress Party(PCP) - which publishes Rai al-Shaab - to damage relations betweenSudan and the United States. The day before the raid on Rai al-Shaab,the authorities had arrested the PCP leader Hassan al-Turabi, who is avocal critic of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, accusing al-Turabi of“stirring up hatred, disseminating malicious lies and abuse of Sudan’sforeign relations”; he was released without charge on 1 July 2010. Therewere further raids on several other newspapers on 19 May, includingon another opposition newspaper, Ajras Alhurria, which was orderedto remove an article on the journalists’ arrests, among others. SudanesePresident Omar al-Bashir, accused of war crimes and crimes againsthumanity in Darfur, was re-elected in national elections in April 2010.According to rights groups, the election process was seriously flawedand marred by widespread repression and human rights violations. Raial-Shaab was suspended for one year on 6 February 2011 followingthe hearing at which the sentences against Abdelaziz and Ibrahim werereduced. Other details: Amnesty International considered Al-Amin,Abdelaziz and Ibrahim to be prisoners of conscience, detained solely forexpressing their opinion without advocating violence. [RAN 36/10 andupdates] Released: Al-Amin was released on bail on 22 August 2011;however the new charges brought against him have not been dropped at30 June 2012. As a result, he still faces the death penalty if found guilty.Detained*Ali Zain AL ABIDEEN: rights activist known for his critical opinionsof the Sudanese regime. He was arrested on 23 December 2011 by theSudanese authorities at Abou-Janzeer square in downtown Khartoum. Inseveral articles published on the website Sudanese Online, al-Abideencalled for the overthrow of the totalitarian repressive regime in Sudanand the establishment of a democratic country that respects humanrights. Those articles are the reason for his detention, meanwhile hiswhereabouts remain undisclosed. Al-Abideen is reportedly in bad healthand suffers from kidney failure.