Two employees of the Rumbek-based Good News Radio 89.0 FM were over the weekend briefly detained and brutally caned by police in Rumbek town, Lakes State.

The radio’s director, Marial Wen Deng, and a reporter, Thomas Thon Makorou, had last Saturday gone to the police station to find out why a local artiste and a music producer had been arrested and detained for days. They were instead arrested and inhumanely given 50 lashes of the cane before being set free on the same day.

The program manager in charge of administration at Radio Good News, William Laat Mabor, confirmed that the duo was badly tortured by the Rumbek police.

“The Good News FM Director, Marial Wen Deng, and his Journalist, Thomas Thon Makorou, went to the police to cover the cause of the arrest of a local artist and the radio station’s music producer by police. When they arrived at the police station, they were asked by the police to display and hand over all their belongings, including the recorder. This is where they ended up being tortured for carrying a recorder in their pockets," Laat said.

He added that the police claim that the local artist made songs that ridiculed and disrespected the police. 

"Now the director of Good News FM and the reporter have been released with swelling and bruises on their faces, but the local artiste and the music producer are still in police detention,” Laat Mabor said. 

The police chief inspector in Rumbek Central County, Samuel Madol Akec Gor, denied having detained any journalist in Rumbek town.

“I am now on leave but I have contacted the acting police chief inspector to confirm if journalists were arrested and tortured, but they said no journalist has been arrested at the police station. Maybe those who did that might be from the police operations and not the police in Rumbek Central County,” Madol said. 

The acting minister of Information and communication in Lakes State, Stephen Mathiang Deng, said that he contacted the police commissioner on Sunday but there was no clear information about the arrest of journalists in Rumbek.

The president of the Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJoSS), Oyet Patrick Charles, condemned the brutalization of the media practitioners by the police in Rumbek and promised to work with relevant authorities so that the matter is investigated. 

“The Good News Radio 89.0 FM director said he and his radio station’s three staff went to the police to find out why an artist was detained and upon reaching the station, they were ordered by the police to declare everything they had,” Oyet said. “One of the media personnel happened to declare an audio recorder and upon seeing it, the police officer ordered all the media personnel to lie down, assaulted the media personnel, and only stopped when a police captain manning the station intervened.”

Oyet said that the media personnel was later set free and they left the police station with all their equipment.

“UJOSS will be working diligently with South Sudan’s government and other stakeholders to see that this issue is addressed with the attention that it deserves,” Oyet said.