The arrest of two Destiny newspaper journalists was legal under the criminal laws of South Sudan.
President Salva Kiir Maryadit told journalists during a briefing yesterday that he did not order to the arrest of Ngor Garang after the journalist wrote an opinion article criticizing his daughter’s marriage to an Ethiopian national.He explained that the South Sudan Transitional Constitution states clearly that defamation is a crime and that people should read the law and judge whether the security services’ act was right.
President Kirr added that press freedom does not allow citizens to insult personalities saying it is against the code of ethics that does not permit calling an elder person bad names.
He said the arrest was according to the law and that the journalist will have to answer in front of the police and explained why he wrote the article.
President Kiir stressed that there are many things to be decided yet about press freedom because of writings in local newspapers including The Citizens.
The President of the Republic warned that every journalist who violates the freedom of other people should not expect to get away with it.