The Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS), an umbrella for all media houses has petitioned President Salva Kiir to stop the rising impunity against journalists in the young nation.
The petition delivered to the office of the president Monday demanded the release of journalists in detention.
AMDISS secretary general Koang Pal said that the release would be in line with the president’s announcement on the national prayer day that political detainees would be freed to take part in the country’s national dialogue.
“Our colleagues should be released after the President announced during the National Prayer Day that he would release people who can be part of this national dialogue, and media is not exempted,” Mr Pal told journalists in Juba.
He said that the reopening of media houses that have been closed down is also a top concern.
“We also want the media houses reopened so that they can take part in this nation-building agenda that is the national dialogue,” said
Mr Pal. “If these media houses are opened and our colleagues in jail are released, they need to be part of this process.”
South Sudan’s press freedom has been handicapped by the war since 2013.
The young nation has lost more than 10 journalists some of whom have been killed in direct relation to their profession. South Sudan’s media crackdown has also forced a number of journalists into exile.
Source: theeastafrican
