Advocacy group calls to release South Sudan TV director

July 19, 2017 (JUBA) – Reporters Without Borders also known as Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) Wednesday has called for the release of the director of South Sudan’s state-owned national TV broadcaster, SSBC, detained since nine days ago by the security service.

Adil Faris Mayat has been arrested on 10 July after the station failed to relay a live broadcast of President Salva Kiir’s speech during the sixth independence day anniversary held on 9 July.

According to RSF, Mayat attributed this failure of the live broadcast to technical problems. However, the South Sudanese officials were angered considered it as an act meant to undermine the South Sudanese president.

“We call for this journalist’s immediate release,” said Cléa Kahn-Sriber, the head of RSF’s Africa desk. “Frequent arbitrary measures of this kind by the security services and the accompanying impunity are killing media freedom in South Sudan and are holding back a return to peace and national reconciliation,” he said.

The director of the official TV station is detained without charges.

The freedom of information advocacy group further said that his family or lawyer have no information about his whereabouts or the conditions in which he is being held.

South Sudan has fallen 20 places in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index since 2015 and is now ranked 145th out of 180 countries.

(ST)