Emtithal Abdel Fadil, a Sudanese reporter for Al-Jarida newspaper, was arbitrarily detained by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for three days in April 2025 and remains under a travel ban.
SAF soldiers arrested Abdel Fadil at 5 a.m. in the eastern city of Kassala on April 19, 2024, as she traveled toward Port Sudan to attend a training on journalists’ safety organized by an internation press freedom group in Ethiopia.
According to the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate and a journalist familiar with the case who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal, the soldiers blindfolded her, searched her phone and social media accounts, and questioned her for three days before releasing her without charge. SAF soldiers asked Abdel Fadil about the training she was attending, and if she had received any financial assistance from any international rights groups.
Following her release, the SAF imposed a travel ban preventing her from leaving Kassala, citing the possibility that she may be summoned again for questioning at any time.
The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate condemned both the arrest and the restriction on her movement as a “flagrant violation of press freedom.”
CPJ’s email to the SAF seeking comment on Abdel Fadil’s arrest and current restrictions received no response.