The government of Sudan on Tuesday has accused a journalist of independent Radio Dabanga station of “crimes against the state,” the station’s director said.

Abdelrahman Adam, a Khartoum producer for Radio Dabanga, was arrested in his office on Saturday together with eight other human rights activists, said Radio Dabanga director Hildebrand Bijleveld.

“We just heard a few hours ago that Abdelrahman has been officially accused of crimes against the state, which is the most serious accusation against a person in Sudan,” Bijleveld told RNW from his office in Hilversum in the Netherlands.

No further details of the accusation is available so far, Bijleveld said.

Radio Dabanga is registered in the Netherlands and supported by Press Now, a non-governmental organisation which supports independent media organisations worldwide. The Khartoum office has been shut down following the arrests.

Abdelrahman, who is Sudanese, and eight other rights activists had attended a seminar on Saturday and came back to Radio Dabanga, which shares its office with rights group Human Rights and Advocacy Network for Democracy (HAND). Bijleveld said that all of them were arrested and taken to unknown locations.

“We have not been able to contact him. We particularly hope that he’s physically and psychologically unharmed,” Bijleveld said. As the Sudanese government has now issued an official accusation, he hoped that Abdelrahman would be able to have access to legal support.

Radio Dabanga is one of the few media outlets still reporting on the Darfur conflict. It is not licensed in Sudan and the government continually writes to the Dutch government asking them to close the station. HAND also has no legal status in Sudan.

"The arrests show the determination of the Sudanese government to suppress civil society during this critical time, and the extent to which the freedom of expression will not be tolerated," the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies said in a statement.

Analysts say Sudan is using the January 2011 referendum on secession as cover to end dissent in Darfur. Peace talks have made little progress, stifled by rebel divisions and ongoing military operations.