Free Journalist Ngor Garang!
On November 2, the editor of South Sudan's Destiny newspaper was detained by security forces, after publishing an article critical of South Sudan's president Salva Kiir.
He hasn't been seen since.
South Sudan's Information Ministry has since suspended publication of Destiny, for "publishing illicit news."
According to The Sudan Tribune, Ngor's detention is at least the ninth attack on press freedoms this year. General Alison Manayi Magaya, South Sudan's Interior Minister, previously warned journalists to consider "the implications... on the country" before publishing.
Since gaining independence five years ago, the current government of South Sudan is yet to guarantee freedom of expression under law.
Help to defend press freedoms! Sign this petition to demand the immediate release of Ngor Garang!
We thge undersigned demand the immediate release of Ngor Garang, editor of the
Destiny newspaper.
On Wednesday November 2, Garang was detained by your government, after publishing an article critical of president Salva Kiir. This is not right: in order for any democracy to function, journalists must be free to write what they choose.
The current detention of Ngor Garang suggests that the newly independent South Sudan is not, in fact, a democracy. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, "local journalists fear the former rebels turned government officials still harbor a war mentality that is unaccustomed to criticism, and that they are not prepared to extend the freedoms they fought hard to attain."
These are not the actions of a democratic government. Please release Ngor Garang immediately, and enshrine the freedom of expression in law.
