The South Sudanese National Security Service on Friday returned keys to the premises of the Catholic radio station Bakhita FM but only after reiterating threats not to broadcast interviews with opposition figures.

Security agents seized the keys on 16 August without any warrant of search and seizure and held the keys for nearly a month.

The government gave no legal notice to the Catholic Church for why it closed Bakhita FM but explained only verbally that they objected to some of the content aired on the radio station on that date.

In discussions with church workers on Thursday, officers of the National Security Service cited a Bakhita FM report in August that quoted a spokesman of SPLA-IO as an example of reporting considered unacceptable, according to a church worker.

They also pointed to an interview last year with the ousted Minister of Higher Education Peter Adwok Nyaba, in which he harshly criticized the government, as another example of the type of programming not allowed to be broadcast.

Security agents are said to have argued that the government’s education minister should have been interviewed instead.

Bakhita FM is yet to resume broadcasting after receiving back from the National Security Service the keys to the station, as it waits for directions from the Archdiocese of Juba, which owns the station.

The National Security Service did not apologize for illegally detaining the editor of Bakhita FM, as called for by three human rights organizations, and for closing the station for nearly a month.

Instead, they are said to have told church workers that the shut-down served as a warning, and that if they cross the line again they will be shut down permanently.

Bakhita FM is the second most popular radio station in the South Sudanese capital, according to data published last year. It is named after a woman who escaped from slavery and later was honored by the Catholic Church as a saint. 

Related coverage:

Juba Catholics want church radio back on air (31 Aug.)

South Sudan aims to censor Catholic Church radio (21 Aug.)

South Sudan security ‘should apologize for closing Bakhita FM’ (21 Aug.)

Timeline: media struggle in South Sudan (18 Aug.)