The official bully

Sudan’s most popular newspaper, Al-Intibaha, has been ordered to stop publishing. Al-Tayeb Mustafa, the paper’s owner, told news agency AFP, “On September 28, the state’s security department ordered the paper to suspend publication without giving any reason.” Analysts link the suspension to the paper’s critic of the Sudanese govenment’s recent decision to cut fuel subsidies. The decision has spiked prices of essential items in Sudan leading to protests across the country.

The 400-member Sudanese Journalists’ Network, which demands freedom of speech, announced that its members were stopping work because of official attempts to censor coverage of the protests.