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South Sudanese President threatens to kill journalists: report

August 17, 2015 (JUBA) -The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based organisation, has condemned statements made by South Sudan President Salva Kiir on Sunday in which he threatened to kill journalists for reporting “against the country”.

President Salva Kiir speaks during the inauguration of the new SPLM premises in Juba on 15 November 2013 (Photo Moses Lomayat)
President Salva Kiir speaks during the inauguration of the new SPLM premises in Juba on 15 November 2013 (Photo Moses Lomayat)
The South Sudan leader reportedly uttered this in the capital, Juba, before he left for Ethiopia for Friday’s meeting with former vice president Riek Machar.

Mediated by the East African regional leaders, the talks between South Sudan’s warring factions seek to end 20 months of violent conflict in the world’s youngest nation.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and nearly two million displaced since the war started in December 2013, pitting forces loyal to Kiir against those allied to Machar.

“If anybody among [journalists] does not know that this country has killed people, we will demonstrate it one day, one time. … Freedom of the press does not mean you work against the country,” Kiir reportedly told journalists as he spoke about press freedoms.

Local journalists told CPJ they believe Kiir’s comments were in connection with the media’s criticism of the protracted nature of the peace negotiations and for alleging corruption in the government. Authorities have cracked down on journalists as pressure mounted to commit to a peace deal. Earlier this month, security agents reportedly shuttered two privately owned newspapers, the Arabic daily Al-Rai and the English daily Citizen as well as the independent media outlet Free Voice South Sudan.

“The leader of any country threatening to kill journalists is extremely dangerous and utterly unacceptable,” said CPJ East Africa Representative Tom Rhodes.

“We call on President Salva Kiir to retract his comments immediately,” he added.

According to CPJ, at least five journalists have been killed in direct relation to their work in South Sudan this year. The journalists were killed by unidentified gunmen on January 25, 2015, during an ambush of as they traveled through Western Bahr al Ghazal state.

(ST)

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