The Dawn newspaper on Thursday resumed printing a day after its print edition was blocked by National Security Service (NSS) officials at the printing press in Juba.
A National Security officer on Wednesday blocked the printing of the April 15 edition of the Dawn newspaper over an opinion piece which evaluated performance of former governors of Warrap State.
Emmanuel Monychol, the editor-in -chief of the Dawn newspaper, told Radio Tamazuj Thursday that the paper resumed its print operations after the Media Authority intervened.
“It was really a misunderstanding when the National Security officer at the Universal Printing Press took a personal decision to block the printing of the newspaper over the opinion article. The officer regarded the article as hate speech and proposed its replacement with an advertisement,” he said.
The South Sudanese editor expressed concerns over restrictions imposed by security services on media outlets in the country.
“Whether there is peace or there is no peace, the media doesn’t have peace in South Sudan because it is being seen as the enemy of the state,” said Monychol.
Monychol pointed out that the opinion article that was removed from the newspaper would be evaluated by the media regulatory body to decide on the way forward.
South Sudan has been regularly at the bottom of international press freedom rankings.
The peace deal signed in September 2018 provides for the review of security sector laws including the National Security Service Act by the National Constitutional Amendment Committee.