August 10th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan government has been urged by an international press advocacy group to released detained Al-Watan Newspaper Michael Christopher.
For more than three weeks now, Michael Christopher has been held at South Sudan’s National Security Service (NSS) headquarters in Juba after he was prevented from departing Juba in mid July.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) urged South Sudan government to stop harassing journalists and release publication and to stop censoring his publications.
“Authorities in South Sudan should immediately release Michael Christopher, editor-in-chief of the Arabic-language daily Al-Watan , and halt its harassment of his publication,” said a CPJ statement seen by the Nyamilepedia.
“We call on the authorities of South Sudan to desist from this long-standing campaign of harassment of Al-Watan and its editor,” the statement added.
Michael Christopher was arrested by South Sudan’s National Security authorities on 17 July and has been arbitrarily held for weeks at the NSS detention facility without charges.
In a strongly worded statement, the CPJ Africa Program Coordinator, Angela Quintal demanded that the Government must ensure unconditional release of Michael Christopher, saying that keeping a journalist under arrest for such a long time is unacceptable and should be stopped.
“Jailing a journalist for more than three weeks for no reason is totally unacceptable, and Michael Christopher should be released immediately and unconditionally,” said CPJ
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it had documented how the media regulator barred Al-Watan in January from reporting on Sudanese protests.
