The detainees were kept in isolation and the authorities did not allow them to call their families for two months, nor did they allow either of their families to visit until February 2013, which was the only visit they have been allowed since their arrests.

Sudanese media has indicated that the arrest of the journalists is based on the pretext that they filmed a special press statement in an attempt to stage a coup, which a number of Sudanese armed security officers participated in, as well as officers from the National Intelligence and Security Agency, in December 2012. The failure of the coup led to the detention of a number of others accused of planning the coup, in addition to the two journalists.

Military trials in accordance with the Sudanese armed forces law and the law of the National Intelligence and Security Agency for a number of the officers connected to the attempted coup took place in April 2013, followed by their release under a Presidential pardon for the participating soldiers. Meanwhile, journalists 'Ali Mustafa Muhammad al-Hajj and Yusuf Ibrahim remain in detention without a trial or any charges being brought them.

Alkarama demands that the Sudanese Authorities release the two journalists immediately, or issue an indictment against them and transfer their file to a court in order that a fair trial be held, stressing at the same time that it is their right to diffuse information through the media without being subjected to harassment and persecution from the authorities.