Khartoum, Sudan - Sudan's President Omar Bashir has ordered the release of all journalists detained for political reasons and those currently being tried, PANA reported from here Sunday. 'We take this measure in honour of freedom of the press. What we need is a free and responsible press,' Bashir told journalist Saturday at a gathering organized by the independent daily Al khabar in Khartoum. There was no specific figure of how many journalists were detained at the time Bashir announced his amnesty but PANA reported that no fewer than six journalists working with the Netherland-based Radio Dabanga were detained along with a number of administrators on allegation of collaborating with armed rebel movements in Darfur.

The most prominent among them, Gaffar Al Sabaki works for the independent daily Al Sahafa as well.

Regaining freedom two days ago was Abu Zarr Al Amin, another journalist with Rai Al Shaab daily, affiliated to the Popular National Congress Party of Dr. Hassan Turabi, the Islamist and former mentor of the present regime.

'Whatever be the case, we think journalists should not be detained and those who feel they have any grievance should go to court of law and get the situation corrected. We do not think journalists are angels who make no mistake. They do. When such a mistake happens, let the affected person go to the court,' the Secretary General of the Sudanese Journalists Union, Fatih Sayed told PANA here Sunday.

Over five thousand journalists are currently registered with the Sudanese Journalists Union, working for 54 daily, political, economic, social and sports newspapers, mostly based in Khartoum state, central Sudan.

Earlier in the year, government lifted a pre-printing censorship, where newspapers have to be approved by a government official, mostly security officer, before it goes to the print, to make sure there was nothing harmful to the national interest.

However, the current law still allows the government to confiscate any newspaper before it goes to the public, without giving any justification for such a move.

'This is a very positive step and we would like to see more overture and we would hope that this grace would cover all fields and that if there are any other detainees in other professions, they would also be freed,' Sayid said.

Last week, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a statement saying it was disturbed by the continued violation of press freedom in Sudan, noting that In August, Sudanese security services confiscated two newspapers, while the Parliament was getting ready to approve a new law with possibly more restrictions.

'We hope this will not be the case, we hope to see more freedom. We are actually working to see that any paper and any journalist should be tried by the civil laws,' Sayed said.

However, Sudanese daily newspapers, especially the sports and social dailies, tended to tilt for excitement at the expense of professionalism, drawing criticism from both the government and their peers in the political and economic sectors, who appear more professional.

'The performance of the sports newspapers is a direct threat for the security and safety of the society,' the Sudanese National Council for Press and Publication, which is the official regulatory body that issues authorization for papers and correspondents, threatened on Sunday.

Without the council's authorization, newspapers or correspondents of foreign media can not operate in the Sudan and it is also the body that has the right to withdraw such authorization.

It was not clear what the council meant but the sports newspapers in Khartoum are known to go to the limit of the law in defamation and in publishing obscene materials.

The council can decide to freeze a number of them on professional grounds, thereby taking with the left hand what the President gave with the right hand.

'We are against the principle of putting a journalist in prison or banning a newspaper for whatever reasons, if the sitting law says so, that is okay,' the Secretary General said.

Observers said there is a huge progress in press freedom in Khartoum at present, compared to the early 1990s, when journalists were surrounded by thorny experiences, to the extent that no one would write on anything touching on the war in the south of the country.

At that time, there were only about seven or eleven daily newspapers, mostly sports and social, compared to 54 at present and only a couple of journalists were detained and they were released as quickly as possible.

'Let us hope that this freedom will embrace every detainee anywhere in our country,'Sayed said.

Pana 29/08/2011