South Sudan national security officers raid press conference at parliament, arrests journalists

By Tapeng Michael Ohure

South Sudan national security officers stormed a press conference organized by Members of Parliament at the national legislature in the capital Juba and arrested eight journalists and one activist in attendance.

The journalists and activist were picked up from the parliament in the capital and driven to a national security facility on Bilpham road and locked up for several hours.

No reason has been given for the arrest of the journalists.

The President of the Union of Journalists, Oyet Patrick Charles told Juba Echo in an interview that attending the press conference was not an offence.

“They never explained actually what the problem is,” he said after securing the release of the journalists.

“It was only me trying to explain there was no problem with going for a press conference.”

Charles noted that there is need for continuous dialogue will all stakeholders to understand the role the media plays in the development of society.

“The media and the security play the same role, collecting information and in our case, we publish them for public consumption which is very necessary for developing society,” he said.