MEDIA REACTION: COVERAGE OF VERDICTS AND SENTENCING

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000796 DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A/S CARSON, AF/C, AF/PDPA IIP/G/AF, PA/PRS/RRU-AF NSC FOR MGAVIN DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI ASEC KPAO OIIP AU SU SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: COVERAGE OF VERDICTS AND SENTENCING ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The state-influenced Khartoum press corps provided detailed, factual coverage of the June 24 courtroom verdicts and sentencing of the five men accused of the January 1, 2008 murders of two U.S. Embassy employees. Notable by their absence was the dearth of editorials and op-eds on this subject. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Most of Khartoum's newspapers echoed the official line of the state-run Sudanese Media Center, whose matter-of-fact headline on June 25 proclaimed that the "Court Issues Death Sentence Against Four Convicts and Imprisonment of the Fifth One in the Granville Assassination Case." Some media, including the pro-government "Al-Intibaha" and "Akhir Lahza" newspapers, took note of the fact that the U.S. had reacted with official pronouncements on the verdicts and sentencing, with front-page headlines such as "America Hails Death Sentence Handed Down on the Defendants of the Granville Trial" and "U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Lauds Death Sentence for Granville's Assassinators." ¶3. (U) Many newspapers chose to run a picture of the four men sentenced to death exiting the court on June 24 with their hands held high, shouting "God is Great!" The picture (available online at http://tinyurl.com/n5jzd8) ran without commentary, with a factual run-down of the events at the trial. ¶4. (U) Only "Al-Khartoum," a relatively independent newspaper, had anything close to a commentary on the sentencing. A columnist wrote that "if death sentences do not serve the purpose of deterring others, they are meaningless" and that "Granville's case will not be the last in Sudan." ¶5. (SBU) COMMENT: The dearth of commentary could be due to renewed hopes of improved relations with the United States and the close timing of the trial verdict with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement forum in Washington. It is possible that for this reason Khartoum's notorious censors struck all opinion reporting from media, especially that critical of the verdict and sentencing of the men convicted of the murders of USAID Khartoum's John Granville and his driver Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama. END COMMENT. WHITEHEAD