Sudanese court orders military to restore internet

KHARTOUM – A Sudanese court ordered to restore the internet service in the country, but the telecommunications companies did not enforce the judicial decision Wednesday night.

Internet service has been cut off in Sudan immediately after the military coup on October 25 as part of a widespread clampdown on dissent.

The court «orders to compel companies to immediately restore the service of the internet network to their subscribers,” reads an order seen by the Sudan Tribune issued by a judge in Khartoum Tariq Abdel Latif on Tuesday, November 9.

The judge further underscored that the internet service can only be cut in accordance with the terms agreed upon by the parties.

However,  the military council can limit the courts’ power because it controls the authority tasked with the judicial implementation.

The internet outage was decided by the army to prevent mobilisation for pro-democracy protests, but opponents overcame the measure through SMS and leaflets distributed in neighbourhoods.

The Sudanese Consumers Protection Society (SCPS) and lawyers sued telecom companies for cutting Internet service.

The internet service providers in Sudan are Zain, Sudtel,  Canar and MTN.

After the attack on the pro-democracy sit-in on June 3, 2019, the army cut off the internet service but it was restored later through a court ruling.