The Sudanese Journalists General Union is to celebrate in collaboration with the National UNESCO Committee Monday the World Press Freedom Day. In this connection, the Union issued Saturday a message on the occasion, affirming the principle of press freedom and welcoming the release of journalist Sami Al-Haj. The programme of the celebration includes addresses and messages by the Union, the Ministers of Information and Communications and Education, UNESCO Director General and the National Council for Press.
Journalist Sami Al-Haj is to address the occasion through telephone. The Union is also to organize a workshop on press freedom, where the Chairman of the Union, Dr. Mohi-Eddin Tetawi, will present a paper on press freedom. The Union is to organize on Tuesday an exhibition in which some 39 cartoonists will participate on Guantanamou Prison and what journalist Sami Al-Haj had faced.
World Press Freedom Day is celebrated every year on 3 May worldwide. It is an opportunity to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate press freedom, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed World Press Freedom Day in 1993, following a recommendation adopted at the twenty-sixth session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991.
