Sudanese Association of Professional Journalists Welcomes the Outcomes of the Press Law Workshop

Port Sudan – Sudanhorizon

The Sudanese Association of Professional Journalists welcomed the holding of a workshop to discuss proposals to amend the Press and Publications Law, which was held mid-week in Port Sudan. The workshop’s outcomes focused on the legal framework, the challenges, and problems facing implementation, and discussed the balance between freedoms and guarantees for protecting national security and societal values. It also addressed the electronic press industry, its challenges, and its impact on the press and community sectors, among other related issues.

Professor Muhammad Mustafa Al-Mamoun, head of the association, said in a press statement issued on Thursday and reviewed by the Sudanhorizon news website, that while the association welcomes all legal legislation that enhances freedoms and professionalism, keeps pace with modern journalism, and preserves virtuous values, traditions, and professional ethics, it warns against the consequences of following some voices calling for restricting freedoms, imposing restrictions on the press and journalists, and exploiting the current security situation based on the state of emergency by imposing legal and administrative conditions that place journalistic work under government oversight.

In its statement, the association called on those working in the journalism profession, under its new designation, to agree on a minimum set of values and standards that would ensure that journalism is professional, free, and independent, fulfilling its role and fulfilling its functions, free from political agendas and foreign ambitions.

The association called on government agencies to take into account the views of stakeholders, including journalists and press institutions, and incorporate their perspectives into amended legislation and laws.

At the end of its statement, the association called for supporting institutions working in the field of training and capacity building, and harnessing capabilities to meet the needs of newspapers and printing presses that have stopped working and have been affected by the hands of the Rapid Support Militia and subjected to systematic destruction, and to stand by the affected journalistic cadres who have stopped working.

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