Sudan journalists jailed

by AFP

Two Sudanese journalists from the independent Al-Sudani newspaper were jailed on Sunday after refusing to pay a fine for an article about the arrest of other journalists, the paper said.

Editor Mahjoub Ourwa and his deputy Noureddine Madani had been ordered to pay a 10,000 Sudanese pound (5,000 dollar) fine or face two months in prison after security services filed a complaint for libel.

The complaint came after Madani wrote an article in July in which he criticised the arrest of four journalists, including one from Al-Sudani, trying to cover protests against a dam being built in Kajbar in northern Sudan.

Four people were killed in clashes between security forces and protesting Kajbar residents in June.

"They refused to pay the fine after making an appeal but the court on Sunday ordered them detained," a journalist at the Arabic-language daily told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"Our lawyers will on Monday ask for the execution of the sentence to be suspended until the courts rule on their appeal," he said.