South Sudan authorities released UN radio journalist George Livio Bahara after being held for two and a half years without trial, the UN announced Friday.
George Livio, a journalist who worked with UN Radio Miraya based in Wau, was detained by security agents in August 2014. He was transferred to Juba in the custody of the National Security Service on suspicions of having links with SPLA-IO rebels.
The UN did not give a reason for Livio's release. Government officials could not immediately be reached for a comment.
The United Nations mission in the country welcomed his release and called for the release of two other staff members who are also in detention without trial since 2014.
Meanwhile, a leading civil society organization in South Sudan has welcomed Livio's release from detention by the security service as South Sudanese start the national dialogue.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, Edmund Yakani, Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress (CEPO), said the move demonstrates government’s commitment to create an enabling environment for the national dialogue.
Yakani urged the government to release all political prisoners who are still being detained for the sake of reconciliation in the country.
South Sudan Human Rights Observatory, a network of South Sudanese and non-South Sudanese volunteers, commended the government for Livio’s release but condemned what it termed as the increasingly routine arbitrary detention of journalists on unfounded accusations.
The group called for the release of all journalists and other political prisoners who are still being detained across the country.