EAJA welcomes sacking of police chief who arrested reporter

EASTERN Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) yesterday welcomed the sacking of a senior police officer in South Sudan’s Lake State who last month arrested and detained a female radio journalist in Rumbek town.“We welcome the bold step by the government of South Sudan against the police officer and the resolute stand taken by the director of the station, Deng Mesheck, in standing by the journalist and defending her from police harassment and intimidation,” the EAJA Secretary General Omar Faruk Osman said in a statement.Reports from South Sudan said the Lake State Police Commissioner, Maj. Gen Saed Abdulatif Chawul Lom had been relieved of his duties by the new nation’s Ministry of Interior over his role in last month’s arrest and detention of Ayak Dhieu Apar, a journalist with the state- owned Radio Rumbek FM 98.The journalist was arrested and detained for three nights from May 14-17, 2012 without an arrest warrant after she hosted a phone-in radio show on the conduct of the police in Lake State, which attracted many callers whose remarks apparently angered local police. She was later released on bail.The incident sparked local and international outrage from both journalists and human rights groups. EAJA issued a statement in which it called for stern action against the police officers who arrested the journalist terming it as an attempt “to gag the media and the people from public dialogue on holding the authorities accountable.”The station director is reported to have threatened to resign over the arrest of the journalist by the police and also hired a team of lawyers to defend her in court.Local journalists also welcomed the action against the officer.“Action must be taken against all rogue officers who continue to intimidate journalists and we urge the South Sudan Government to make greater commitment towards guaranteeing media freedom and the right of journalists to report and engage citizens in public discussions on the conduct of government officers,” added Osman. South Sudan, which attained independence in July 2011 after years of internal conflict and war with the government in Khartoum, has not enacted media laws that guarantee and protect media freedoms.

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EAJA welcomes sacking of police chief who arrested reporter