Blue Nile: Human Rights Activist Arrested and Charged with Defamation over Social Media Post in Al-damazin

(20 December, 2022) On 13 December, 2022 at 9:00am Mr. Mohamed Salah Ali Khaber a human rights activist working with Zakat Chamber located in Al-damazin, Blue Nile State was arrested from their offices in Al-damazin and taken to Khartoum by a group of police detectives. The previous day (12 December) Mr. Khaber was arrested from his work place by a different group of Police officers led by an officer with rank of Captain.

The arrests were a result of an arrest warrant issued by the office of the attorney in Khartoum following criminal charges of defamation under Articles 23/25 of the Sudanese Cybercrime law, 2018 against Mr. Khaber because of a social media post. The case was reported and registered vide case No. 3933/2022 by Mr. Ibrahim Musa Ibra the acting Secretary General of the Zakat chamber as the complainant.

On 7 December, 2022 at 07:10am Mr. Khaber shared on his Facebook page/account a statement issued by the of the Zakat Chamber Employees group/association. The group had issued a public statement that same morning although it was deleted later that day.

The statement contained four major points namely;

1. The group expressed their disappointment in the agreement that was signed on 4 December, 2022 between the Alliance of Freedom and Change and Sudanese Military Alliance (current party in power)
2. The group demanded the disapproval/rejection of the proposal of financial incentive by the Secretary General of the Zakat Chamber for his personal benefit and to the Sudanese Minister of Social welfare claiming that it does reflect and encourage the practice of corruption.
3. They stated that the selection criteria of beneficiaries of the Zakat Fund is discriminatory as only those with specific Islamic roles are supported rather than the primary target group.
4. They went ahead and made the following recommendations;

• Called upon Sudanese office of the Auditor General to investigate in the allegations.
• Appoint and task a legal committee to take urgent legal action
• Organize peaceful protests
• Call for the dismissal of the acting Secretary General of the Zakat Chamber on the basis of cases of missing official paper work under his custody.

Mr. khaber arrived in Khartoum under arrest but was later released on bond. He is yet to appear before courts of law.

ACJPS urges the Sudanese authorities to respect and guarantee the right the freedom of expression as provided for under article 56 of the Constitutional Declaration, 2019 and other international and regional treaties ratified by the Sudanese government.

We further call upon the Sudanese authorities to cease the harassment and intimidation of citizens legitimately exercising their rights.

 Background

Internet freedom in Sudan has continued to decline because the Sudanese government has increasingly exerted control over the online spheres by arresting journalists and activists using restrictive laws such as cybercrime law and penal code, 1991. The authorities have continued to crackdown on online activities, arresting and sentencing citizens over social media posts. ACJPS has reported several incidents where activists and journalists have been arrested and charged with defamation for their online activities.