August 5, 2020 (Nyamilepedia) – A South Sudan journalist who previously worked for the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) as a news anchor and reporter has spoken, revealing why he was forced to flee the country to join an armed opposition group.
Chol Duang, who worked for SSBC for almost five years, said in an exclusive interview with Nyamilepedia that he was forced out of the country by the notorious National Security Service (NSS), which has been accused by rights groups as being violent against journalists.
He said the reasons that led to the unfolding of enmity between him and the NSS was traced back to a piece of article which he posted on his Facebook page that there was need for the country to return to ten states.
“I had posted about the need to return to 10 states by then, a view being held by the opposition and TROIKA that time,” Chol told Nyamilepedia from undisclosed location in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi,on phone.
He said some of his colleagues employed at the SSBC by the government are agents and employees of the NSS and were spying and writing reports against their colleagues who have different points of view on the conflict in the country.
“The NSS officers embedded among journalists wanted to detain, harm or remove me from the media permanently,” he said.
Chol further revealed that most of the media officials working for the president are not journalists, but were “hand-picked by their clueless spokespersons. I called out these unprofessional practices, and this caused me my job.”
“Accusations were made against me that I could be pushing for US policies after returning from the US, which were intended to legitimize any arrest or harm against me ……. Those covering J1 are security agents, not journalists. Do not trust them.”
