US calls for release of journalist working for Voice of America

The United States on Tuesday called on South Sudan to release a South Sudanese journalist working for Voice of America public radio who was arrested during protests on Sunday.

Diing Magot, a freelance journalist, was arrested along with five demonstrators who were organizing a protest action against the dizzying rise in basic necessities, according to the police. South Sudan Police spokesman Daniel Justine told reporters that an investigation into Diing Magot’s case was ongoing.

The US Embassy in Juba has called for the South Sudanese journalist’s immediate release. “We affirm the right of journalists to do their job without interference or prejudice,” the embassy said on Twitter.

The Union of Journalists of South Sudan joined in this call: “It is clear that they have not committed any crime and that the law is not respected”, declared its president Oyet Patrick, stressing that Ms. Magot would have already been presented to a judge if charges were brought against her. Journalists have been targeted by police in recent months, with several briefly arrested in parliament in June on charges of illegally covering a press conference by the deputy speaker of parliament, an opposition ally. “Press freedom is extremely precarious in South Sudan, where journalists work under constant threats and intimidation, and where censorship is omnipresent,” according to the press freedom association Reporters Without Borders.

South Sudan, like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, has suffered the consequences of the war in Ukraine with rising food and fuel prices.

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The United States on Tuesday called on South Sudan to release a South Sudanese journalist working for Voice of America public radio who was arrested during protests on Sunday.
Diing Magot, a freelance journalist, was arrested along with five demonstrators who were organizing a protest action against the dizzying rise in premium products…