South Sudanese journalist abducted and severely tortured
October 10, 2016 (JUBA) – A South Sudanese journalist abducted on Friday was severely tortured and dumped near a graveyard, colleagues and relatives said Monday.
Malek Bol, a journalist with Al-Muogif newspaper, went missing on Friday and was found after being tortured by unidentified group.
He was found at a graveyard in a Juba suburb on Monday morning.
It was not immediately clear as to what prompted government agents to target him.
Colleagues and family members attributed the cause to a critical article he wrote and posted on social media about the performance of the government under President Salva Kiir. The article focused on the economic crisis and corruption in the country.
According to medical reports, the journalist had broken ribs that resulted from severe beatings.
Similar incident also happened earlier this year when two journalists were tortured and dumped on two different graveyards in Juba town.
“It is very unfortunate indeed. We found him in a bad condition, beaten and burned,” one of his colleagues at the newspaper told Sudan Tribune on Monday by phone.
The journalist further added that the paper is operating in a difficult situation and was no longer able to balance their stories, only being forced to write and publish a version that suit the interest of the government and allied opposition and views targeting non alliance opposition to the government.
“It is very hard to maintain any level of professional standards these days,” said a reporter who preferred anonymity.
“You know that what happens these days is that security personnel who are deployed to the newspapers ensure that they read all that is going to be published the next day. When they find something which is not in favour of the government, they remove it if they respect you”, he added.
(ST)