Bodyguards attached to the governor of South Sudan’s Unity State have arrested a journalist working for the government-owned Bentiu Radio 99.0 FM, media officials said, raising fresh concerns over press freedom in the country.
Taker Kuony, a reporter who has worked with Bentiu Radio for seven years, was detained in Bentiu town on Friday.
Majak Kuany Alier, the Secretary-General of the Union of Journalists of South Sudan, confirmed the arrest to Radio Tamazuj and said Journalist Kuony remained in detention as of Sunday.
“The arrest of a journalist is unacceptable, unconstitutional and unlawful,” Majak said, adding that Kuony was detained by the governor’s bodyguards without a warrant or being handed over to police as required by law.
He said the journalist was picked up from a youth center in Bentiu, and that the state coordination office later informed the union of the arrest.
Unity State Information Minister Nyakenya Keah Ruai confirmed the arrest, saying she had returned from Juba on Friday and sought clarification from Governor Riek Bim Top.
“The governor told me he was not aware of the incident involving his bodyguards and the journalist,” Nyakenya said. “He promised that the journalist arrested on Friday would be released.”
She added that a committee would be formed to investigate the arrest, with further details expected early next week.
Sources in Bentiu told Radio Tamazuj that Kuony was detained after criticizing Governor Riek Bim Top on his personal Facebook page for failing to construct the road connecting Bentiu town to the Unity oilfields.
However, the state information minister denied the claim, saying an investigation would be launched jointly by the ministry and the governor’s office to examine the circumstances of Kuony’s detention.
The arrest comes a day after the release of Michael Christopher, editor-in-chief of the Arabic-language Al-Watan newspaper, who was detained by security forces in Juba on Nov. 26.
Under South Sudanese law, detainees must be brought before a court within 24 hours of arrest, but the rule is frequently ignored by security forces.
Journalists in South Sudan routinely face harassment, detention and arrest in connection with their work. Although the country’s constitution guarantees freedom of expression and press freedom, rights groups say those protections are weakly enforced, with a wide gap between the law and its implementation.