KHARTOUM: Sudanese security forces have released two journalists from Asharq television channel, a day after detaining them as deadly violence flared during renewed protests against the military government, the station said Friday.
During Thursday’s protests in and near Khartoum, “five uniformed security officers” held journalists Maha Al-Talb and Sally Othman and their teams in their office for several hours, the channel said.
Sudan has been gripped by turmoil since military leader Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan launched a coup on Oct. 25 and detained Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
Hamdok was reinstated on Nov. 21, but mass protests have continued as demonstrators distrust Burhan’s promises of seeking to guide the country toward full democracy.
Protesters charge that the deal simply aims to give the cloak of legitimacy to the generals, whom they accuse of trying to continue the regime built by former autocratic President Omar Bashir, who was toppled in 2019 following mass protests.
In the worst street clashes since Hamdok’s return, five demonstrators were killed and dozens wounded by bullets on Thursday, said the independent Doctors’ Committee, which is part of the pro-democracy movement.
Authorities also cut phone lines and the internet and cracked down on media, also including the satellite channel Al-Arabiya.
Othman was interrupted by soldiers in the middle of a live broadcast and can be heard saying in a clip shared widely on social networks: “I will not be able to continue, the authorities are now forbidding me to continue with you.”
Sudanese police blamed the incident on “reprehensible individual actions” which would be investigated.
The Doctors’ Committee charged that “crimes against humanity” were committed in Omdurman, twin city of the capital Khartoum, on Thursday.
It said five demonstrators were killed by bullets to the head or chest, and that ambulances were blocked and at least one seriously injured person was forcibly removed from an ambulance by the security forces.
Street clashes since the October coup have claimed 53 lives.
Two TV journalists freed in Sudan after mass street protests
https://arab.news/rx8uj
Two TV journalists freed in Sudan after mass street protests
- Authorities cut phone lines and the internet and cracked down on media, also including the satellite channel Al-Arabiya
Israeli court overturns conviction of officer who assaulted Palestinian journalist, citing ‘Oct. 7 PTSD’
- Judge sentenced Yitzhak Sofer to 300 hours of community service, saying officer “devoted his life to Israel’s security” and conviction was “disproportionate to severity of his actions”
- Footage shows Sofer throwing photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf to the ground, and repeatedly beating and kicking him while he covered Palestinian gatherings near Al-Aqsa Mosque
LONDON: An Israeli court overturned the conviction of a border police officer who assaulted a Palestinian journalist, ruling his actions were influenced by post-traumatic stress disorder from serving during the Oct. 7 2023 attacks.
On Tuesday, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court sentenced officer Yitzhak Sofer to 300 hours of community service for assaulting Anadolu Agency photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf in occupied East Jerusalem in December 2023.
Footage shows Sofer and other officers drawing weapons, throwing Alkharouf to the ground, and repeatedly beating and kicking him while he covered Palestinian gatherings near Al-Aqsa Mosque amid heavy restrictions.
Alkharouf was hospitalized with facial and body injuries. His cameraman, Faiz Abu Ramila, was also attacked.
Anadolu photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf violently attacked by Israeli army in occupied East Jerusalem while covering Palestinian prayers near Al-Aqsa Mosque
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) December 15, 2023
Incident highlights ongoing restrictions on Friday prayers and press freedom in region https://t.co/exT6XqjEaA pic.twitter.com/pqugK9HnOt
Sofer had been convicted in September 2024 of assault causing bodily harm (acquitted of threats) and initially faced six months’ community service, as recommended by Mahash, the Justice Ministry’s police misconduct unit.
Judge Amir Shaked accepted the defense request to cancel the conviction, replacing it with community service.
He cited Sofer’s PTSD from responding to the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, noting the officer had “no prior criminal record” and had “devoted his life to Israel’s security.”
“The court cannot ignore this when considering whether the defendant’s conviction should stand,” he said, adding that while the incident is “serious and does cross the criminal threshold,” the conviction in place could cause Sofer harm “disproportionate to the severity of his actions.”
The ruling comes amid surging attacks on journalists in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza since Israel’s war on Gaza began.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported Israel responsible for two-thirds of the 129 media workers killed worldwide in 2025, the deadliest year on record, citing a “persistent culture of impunity” and lack of transparent probes.
Reporters Without Borders called the Israeli army the “worst enemy of journalists” in its 2025 report, with nearly half of global reporter deaths in Gaza.
Foreign journalists face raids, arrests and intimidation. In late January 2026, Israel’s Supreme Court granted a delay on ruling a ban on foreign media access to Gaza.
