EUROPEAN UNION NEWS DIGEST
EU official questions Sudan committee over September protests
(Sudan Tribune) The head of the Political and Information section at the European Union (EU) mission to Sudan, Bogdan Batic, held talks with members of the parliamentary subcommittee on legislation, justice and human rights to inquire about media freedom and the human rights situation following last year’s protests which claimed more than 100 lives. Last September, violent clashes erupted between the demonstrators and security forces in different parts of the Sudan following the government’s decision to remove fuel subsidies leading to at least 70 deaths, according to official figures and more than a 200 according to human rights organizations, activists, and opposition. More than 800 people have also been detained. She told reporters following the meeting that the EU official asked about human rights, laws, freedoms, and the peace process, saying he affirmed the EU cannot assist with lifting the US economic sanctions imposed on Sudan. Al-Daba for her part said the EU is not contributing to cancelation of Sudan’s foreign debt and lifting of sanctions imposed upon it by the United States.
Source: http://www.sudantribune.com/
Sudanese security confiscates three newspapers
(Radio Dabanga) The Sudanese security apparatus confiscated the Thursday edition of three daily newspapers after printing without giving any justifications. “The confiscation of El Watan, El Ihran El Yoam, and El Khir Lahza newspapers is not only a means of repression against the right of expression”, the Journalists for Human Rights (JAHR) stated; “but is also intended to withhold information from the public and financially harm publishers in the country.” A source in the NISS told Sudan Tribune on Thursday these newspapers “committed numerous breaches”, such as their coverage of developments regarding the dispute with Egypt over the border Halayeb region.
Source: https://www.radiodabanga.org/
‘Unified platform only way out for Sudan’: SPLM-N
(Radio Dabanga) The chairman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), Malik Agar, announced that the position of the delegation in the negotiations in Addis Ababa remains to “unify the negotiation platforms and reach a comprehensive solution for the issue of Sudan”. He confirmed in an interview with Radio Dabanga on Thursday that the opposition movement has proposed a Sudanese constitutional conference under the umbrella of the Sudan Revolutionary Front and Sudan’s ruling party “if they want change”, which he believes will inevitably be coming. “The proposal of a unified platform is the only way out for Sudan’s problems.” The special court in Sinja, Sennar state, has scheduled its verdict of 86 people accused of being SPLM-N members to 13 March. They have been detained since the end of 2011. 23 others are accused in absentia, including Malik Agar and the Secretary-General Yasir Arman.
Source: https://www.radiodabanga.org/
Iran hails “excellent” bilateral ties with Sudan
(Sudan Tribune) The Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has said his country’s strategic policy is to strengthen ties with African countries pointing that Sudan has special status in this regard. According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Rouhani described during his meeting with the Sudanese parliamentary speaker Al-Fatih Izz Al-din this week his country’s relations with Sudan as “excellent”, saying the two countries are close culturally and revolutionary.
Source: http://www.sudantribune.com/