Three journalists Sudan newspaper arrested

JUBA POST

– For more information, contact: Bullen Kenyi
00-249-(0)-9111-67813

JUBA/SUDAN, 22 June 2005 — Three journalists of the
independent Sudanese newspaper The Juba Post have been
arrested in Khartoum by the police assisted by
security officials and representatives of the National
Press Council. According to the arrest warrant shown
by the police, the three reporters are charged with
‘defamation’. They have been detained in the Khartoum
prison.

The Juba Post is the only remaining independent
newspaper in Sudan after the closure of The Khartoum
Monitor, ten days earlier. The Juba Post started to
publish at the day of signing the peace agreement the
9th of January. It is the only newspaper that appears
on both sides of the conflict line with reporters in
the rebel controlled South and government North.

The Juba Post reporters Charles Luganya (desk
coordinator Khartoum), Angelo Wello and Joseph Aligo,
were taken by armed officials from their temporary
office in Khartoum North. The officials refused to
explain the case to the reporters. They would be
brought to trial in Khartoum Thursday 23 of June on a
still unknown location. The lawyer, Kulan Jerbong, has
pleaded for their immediate release.

The Juba Post is an initiative of independent
journalists who refused to work for censored
newspapers. Most of the reporters started to become
involved while still being students others were
writers. They were trained for one year before they
started to publish. The publisher, Juba Media, is
owned by Sudanese. The head-office is in Juba with a
sub staff-office in Khartoum and a network of
freelancers throughout the country. The Juba Post was
the only paper with a detailed report on the deadly
riots in one of the camps in Khartoum. It also has
reported on rape-cases with soldiers involved. The
paper is not affiliated to any political movement.

The Juba Post editor-in-chief, Bullen Kenyi Yatta,
calls the detention of his colleagues “A straight
violation of the peace agreement which should have
ensured full freedom of the press.”