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South Sudan’s security agencies have lifted a ban on the independent Arabic daily Al-Watan.
South Sudanese authorities No Access On November 24, 2023, after Al-Watan published a letter of condolences to Israel, they sent a letter of condolences to the Al-Watan office.
According to the newspaper’s management, the suspension was in retaliation for its publication on October 11 of a letter signed by Israeli President Salva Kiir to the Israeli authorities expressing condolences for the Hamas attack on civilians four days earlier.
Staff said the letter was sent to the newspaper in advance before it was finalized by then-Youth and Sports Minister Albino Bor Diu, who was fired five weeks later, on November 17. He reportedly paid Al-Watan newspaper to run the letter on its front page as sponsored content.
On Thursday evening, Michael Christopher, editor-in-chief of Al-Watan, confirmed in an interview with Radio Tamazuj that authorities had lifted the suspension order and authorized the Arabic daily to resume publication in Juba.
“We received the notification this evening (Thursday) during a meeting with the Media Authority, which authorized the newspaper to resume publication,” Michael said.
When asked if the newspaper could resume publication without restrictions, Michael said: “We are ready to resume publication but we were given some instructions in the meeting, such as upholding accuracy, ethics, etc.”
He added: “I would like to inform our readers that despite the financial challenges we are facing due to suspension of publication of the newspaper for eight months, the newspaper will be available in the market starting next week.”
According to South Sudanese editors, the Media Development Society of South Sudan (AMDISS) and the Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) played a key role in the newspaper’s re-launch after an eight-month hiatus.
South Sudanese media and journalists are often targeted by government officials, especially for reporting on human rights violations, corruption and abuse one’s power.
The country ranked 136th out of 180 countries in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders.
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