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afrol News, 14 January - The Mauritanian government has banned the latest issue of the weekly Arab-language paper 'Sahafa', apparently because it contained a report on opposition activities abroad. The country's authorities have increasingly turned to censoring press coverage negative of the government. The editor of 'Sahafa', Mohammed Mahmud Ould Bacar said the report on the opposition abroad included news about the French-based underground Conscience et Résistance group. The group, which organises Mauritanian expatriates, calls for a "radical transition" in Mauritania and claims the Nouakchott government is into corruption. Mr Bacar, a member of the National Committee for Observance of Journalistic Ethics, was arrested by plainclothes police last 19 September at Nouakchott airport and questioned about his alleged links with Conscience et Résistance. He was however freed two days later. The Paris-based media watchdogs Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) today denounced the Mauritanian government's banning of 'Sahafa'. "This shows once again that the authorities will not tolerate the independent press giving a voice to opposition figures," said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard in a letter to Interior Minister Lemrabott Sidi Mahmud Ould Sheikh Ahmed, calling on him to reverse the ban. The censorship of Mauritanian media rather has increased than decreased over the last years. Only in August 2002, the Interior Ministry refused to authorise the printing of the Arabic version of an issue of the journal 'Le Calame', which carried a report on the demonstrations that took place during President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya's visit to France. Article 11 of the 1991 press law has contributed to the increased censorship. This article gives the Interior Minister the right to by decree "ban the circulation, distribution or sale of newspapers that undermine the principles of Islam or the credibility of the state, harm the general interest or disturb public order and security." In this case, the Ministry is not compelled to justify his decision. The Minister simply has to send the newspaper and the printers a "notification" banning the "circulation, distribution and sale" of the title.
Sources: Based on RSF and afrol archives
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