Ateny Wek, Press Secretary of the President, has denied that the South Sudanese government ordered Juba Monitor newspaper not to re-publish news reports by independent media houses Sudan Tribune and Radio Tamazuj.
The presidency official says the government has only ‘advised’ editors as to some ethical issues and not ‘ordered’ them not to re-print stories by the two outlets.
Speaking to Voice of America, Ateny insisted that newspaper editors were only being “advised to observe the ethics of their operation” – not censored.
This contradicts a report by National Courier that the National Security Service “ordered” Juba Monitor not to publish reports by Radio Tamazuj or Sudan Tribune.
National Courier reported online on Friday that Juba Monitor was “ordered to cease publishing news from Sudan Tribune or Radio Tamazuj.”
Neither the National Security Service nor any other governmental body has produced any written order to that effect.
Juba Monitor Editor-in-Chief Alfred Taban on Friday confirmed that National Security personnel expressed concerns about “the number of articles from Radio Tamazuj and Sudan Tribune” re-published by his paper.
But he denied agreeing not to publish such reports. He said that Juba Monitor “shall not avoid” re-printing such stories, while also continuing to report its own stories.
Radio Tamazuj has encouraged print newspapers in Juba to freely re-print stories published on its website.
Related:
Media worker slams censorship of Juba Monitor as ‘barbaric’ (17 Oct.)