South Sudan Government Spokesman and Information minister Michael Makuei. FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The South Sudan Media Authority (SSMA) has banned UN Radio
Miraya reporters from covering government events and ordered their
arrest if they defy.
SSMA said Radio Miraya had defied registering with the regulator since last year.
A
local Radio Miraya reporter, Mr Martin Sani, was on Tuesday held in
Juba by the National Security Service (NSS) over a persistent dispute
between the media regulator and his employer.
Mr Sani
was apprehended at the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs while attending
a news briefing by Information minister and government spokesman
Michael Makuei.
Were confiscated
His phone, recorder and notebook were confiscated by the NSS members, who whisked him away to their headquarters.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) information
desk confirmed that Mr Sani was detained for six hours, then released.
UNMISS spokesperson Francesca Mold said Mr Sani's arrest was orchestrated by the media regulator.
SSMA
in March ordered the closure of Radio Miraya over what it termed as
persistent non-compliance and refusal to be regulated under the South
Sudan laws.
The privileges
But
UNMISS maintains that the radio's operation remained guided by the
Status Forces Agreement signed between the UN and the Juba government in
August 2011.
The agreement charged the South Sudan
government to accept to implement the conventions on the privileges and
immunities to all UN mission.
The South Sudan media regulator has been under criticism for heightened crackdown on press freedom in the young nation.
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