Alfred Taban

Who is Alfred Taban?

Alfred Taban Logune is a Sudanese broadcast journalist. He is working as the BBC's correspondent in Khartoum. He is the managing editor of the Khartoum Monitor, the only independent English-language newspaper in Sudan.

Having trained as a laboratory technician, Taban embarked on a career in journalism, a vocation that in Sudan is subject to constant government intimidation. He was detained by the authorities for 5 days in April 2001 while covering a news conference by church leaders in Khartoum, who were protesting against the cancellation of a service and the arrest of up to one hundred Christians. On another occasion, the Sudanese police forced Taban to stand for twelve hours chanting "I am a liar, I am a liar".

In July 2005, Speaker of the British House of Commons Michael Martin presented the Speaker Abbot award to Alfred Taban, in recognition of his work exposing the slaughter in Darfur. This award is awarded to the journalist who has made the greatest contribution internationally to the "protection, promotion and perpetuation of parliamentary democracy".