South Sudan journalist reports death threats over coverage of Sudan’s unrest

January 14, 2019 (JUBA) – Al-Watan editor-in-chief says she has received death threats after as a result for the support of the Arabic language newspaper to the ongoing unrest in Sudan against the government of President Omer al-Bashir.

Al-Watan newspaper has been already ordered by South Sudan’s Media Authority on 7 January to stop publishing articles about the ongoing protests in Sudan. However, the independent daily didn’t comply with the decision.

The authority also asked the Juba-based newspaper to publish an apology to the Sudanese embassy in Juba within 72 hours from the date of the warning letter, but the newspaper ignored the call.

“The day before yesterday, at 5:00 PM, I was received several calls from a masked number. After the fifth call, someone spoke to me saying that I had to stay away from dealing with the events in Sudan,” Michael Christopher told Sudan Tribune on Monday.

The caller further warned Christopher that he should apologize to the Sudanese government within 72 hours, or he would pay for that, the journalist stressed.

The South Sudanese journalist was keen to not accuse any person or body in Juba but he said they noticed one of the five calls, the caller ID was not hidden and they identified it as an MTN-South Sudan telephone number.

It is not clear whether the South Sudanese authorities will investigate the death threats or not.

President Omer al-Bashir has been praised by many in South Sudan who say he accepted the independence of South Sudan and played a crucial role to convince the South Sudanese antagonists to end the war and strike a peace deal in September 2018.

(ST)