On May 18, 2026, the Sudanese authorities arrested Rashan Oshi, a freelance Sudanese journalist and host on local private channel AlBalad TV, in Port Sudan city, after a Sudanese court on the same day sentenced her to one year in prison and fined her 10 million Sudanese pounds (USD 16,653), according to news reports.
The court convicted Oshi with defamation on articles 25 and 26 of the cybercrime law, according to the local journalist who spoke with CPJ on condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisal.
Oshi’s arrest is connected to a 2025 article she had published on her Facebook page, which has over 400,000 followers, alleging widespread corruption and betrayal within Sudanese state institutions, focusing on an official accused of covering up the sale of diplomatic state property to a Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander, according to the journalist.
Oshi’s detention comes amid a broader deterioration of press freedom in Sudan since the outbreak of war in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF. Journalists across the country have faced killings, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, legal harassment, and attacks by both warring parties.
CPJ emailed the Sudanese Armed Forces for comment but did not receive a response.