Sudan: The army-backed authorities are prosecuting 15 journalists and two media outlets under anti-cybercrime law
The cybercrime prosecutor’s office in Red Sea State, which is controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces, has charged at least 15 media professionals and two media outlets with defamation, invasion of privacy, and spreading false information. These charges follow their online reporting on alleged corruption within the public sector. These prosecutions, accompanied by arrest warrants, illustrate how the cybercrime law is being weaponised against the press. Reporters Without Borders calls for the charges to be dropped and an end to the abuse of the law.
According to official documents reviewed by Reporters Without Borders, 15 journalists and two media outlets are being targeted by judicial authorities backed by the regular army, the Sudanese Armed Forces. These media professionals, along with the news sites Sudafaxand Sudan Tomorrow, face prosecution initiated by the Red Sea State cybercrime prosecutor due to publications on their respective news platforms and social media accounts concerning an investigation into alleged corruption within the army-backed government’s interior ministry, which is de factoled by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. On 21 July, the prosecutor’s office issued a total of 17 arrest warrants — 15 for the aforementioned journalists and two for the editors-in-chief of SudafaxandSudan Tomorrow, as the outlets’ legal representatives — based on unfounded accusations of defamation, invasion of privacy, and spreading false information. These journalists have been declared “fugitives” and ordered to surrender to the army-backed authorities. According to Reporters Without Borders information, some of them are living in exile after fleeing the conflict that has plagued the country since April 2023.
“As Sudan faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, prosecuting journalists for cybercrimes amounts to silencing those documenting the war, at a time when access to independent information is vital for the population. Authorities backed by the Sudanese Armed Forces must drop these baseless charges and stop weaponising the law to muzzle the press.”
According to the Sudanese human rights organisation Emergency Lawyers, <a href="https://absafricatv.com/europe-braces-for-another-summer-heatwave/” title=”Europe braces for another summer heatwave”>another 30 journalists are reportedly facing similar charges in the same case. However, Reporters Without Borders has not had access to the relevant court documents.
This use of anti-cybercrime legislation to punish media professionals is not unprecedented. In May, the army-backed authorities arrested Rishan Oshi, a journalist and presenter for the private channel AlBalad TV, on accusations of defamation over a Facebook post on the alleged secret sale of public property between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces, the two warring parties. Although initially sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 10 million SDG(approximately 14,500 EUR), Oshi ultimately had her conviction overturned by the Supreme Court and was released on 1 July after 45 days of arbitrary detention.
Since the outbreak of the conflict between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces in April 2023, both warring parties have committed crimes against journalists, forcing a large number of them into exile. According to RSF, 13 journalists have been killed, three remain missing, and 19 have been detained, such as Mouammar Ibrahim, who is still in the hands of the Rapid Support Forces.
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Published on11.08.2026
