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Sudan's Mobile Internet Restored After Power Sharing Deal

Naba Mohiedeen

   KHARTOUM - Sudanese authorities have restored internet services more
   than a month after they were cut off when the military violently broke
   up protests calling for civilian rule, leaving dozens dead. The
   loosening of media controls comes as the military and protesters are
   set to sign an agreement on a power-sharing, transitional government,
   raising cautious optimism for a peaceful solution to the stand-off.

   Sudan's telecommunications providers restored 3G and 4G data
   connections on Wednesday, a day after a court ruled in favor of a
   lawsuit challenging the cut-off.

   Abdelazim al-Hassan, the head of the group of lawyers who filed the
   legal case, says, "Cutting off the internet was a violation of
   constitutional rights, a personal right due to the contract between the
   subscriber and the serving company."
   "As a lawyer, I deal with a lot of local and foreign companies and I'm
   also a university professor," said al-Hassan. "The internet cut-off
   meant the stopping of my right to work, he says. So, I defended my
   right to work, practice my public activities, and preserve others'
   rights."
   Sudan's Transitional Military Council cut internet services in June as
   troops violently broke up a weeks-long sit-in, killing over 100
   protesters.

   The TMC cited security reasons for the internet break.

   Protesters like Omer Izz-Eldin were using social media to organize and
   raise support for their calls for civilian rule.

   "The Internet cut-off affected our work and communications with the
   world," he said. "It blocked many freedoms and made people dependent on
   the local media and TV, instead of social media and the protesters'
   shared videos and photos."

   Analyst Mamoun Ali says the transitional period in Sudan requires a
   free media to maintain stability.

   He says the Internet cut-off has a big impact on media and press
   freedoms in the country... and revealing the facts related to the
   break-up of the protesters' sit-in.

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