 has condemned the closure of Arabic Newspaper Al Watan calling for immediate reopening of the media house.){kind=link}
The Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS) has condemned the closure of Arabic Newspaper Al Watan calling for immediate reopening of the media house.
Director of AMDISS Ayaa Irene Lokang has described the closure of daily News media as “illegal and unprocedural” citing that security does not have a mandate to close the institution without authorization from the Media Authority.
She says the issues of media houses are handled through the Media Authority, the regulatory agency of the government in South Sudan.
Director Irene calls the concerned authority to open Al Watan Newspaper and if there is any issue or case with the newspaper it should be the Media Authority to address it.
“The closure of Al Watan Newspaper is illegal because we now have the media laws and the body that is charged with the responsibility to handle media-related cases is the Media Authority. As AMDISS, we call on the concerned authorities to open the Al Watan Newspapers,” Irene said.
The Association is calling journalists and media houses to stand in solidarity with Al Watan Newspapers, publish relevant content, and lobby for the reopening of the institution to ensure the Arabic audience does not miss out on the information.
The AMDISS Director was speaking to Voice of Hope Radio during a phone interview this week.
Al Watan Newspaper was closed on 24th November 2023 by allegedly national security personnel who ordered the journalist to leave the place and later locked the premises.
According to the South Sudan Journalists’ Union, the closure left 10 reporters jobless, several paper distributors without business, and readers were denied access to information.
UJOSS said the closure is a violation of the transitional Constitution of South Sudan 2011 as amended, article 24 on freedom of expression and article 32 on access to information.