UN chief urges Sudan to respect freedom of press

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged authorities in Sudan to respect freedom of expression and the press, calling the coup-stricken country hostile to journalists in a report submitted Friday to the Security Council.

Hundreds of political activists, journalists, protesters and bystanders watching anti-coup rallies were arrested following the country’s latest upheaval on October 25.

On that date military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan seized power and detained Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, but after international condemnation and the mass protests he reinstated the premier in a November 21 deal.

“Amidst an increasingly hostile environment for journalists, I urge the authorities to respect freedom of speech and of the press,” Guterres said in the quarterly document, which has not yet been made public but was obtained by AFP.