Court hearing on Juba Monitor wrangle postponed over ‘missing file’

 JUBA — A court in Juba has indefinitely suspended a court hearing over the ownership tension between the family of late Alfred Taban, the founder, and the management of Juba Monitor newspaper.

The case between the two parties was scheduled for hearing on Monday 25th April 2022. However, a representing Juba Monitor Lasarus Yugu confirmed to local media that the postponement was the result of a missing file.

“No, no this court will not take place today because the files are still in the court of appeal. Probably maybe this week and you guys (journalists) will be informed,” he was quoted by Juba Echo to have said.

On April 12, 2022, a Kator court ordered Juba Monitor to stop operation after the family filed a suit against the management.

Juba Monitor’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Peter Morbe, called the verdict an injustice.

Morber argues in the article that the Late Alfred Taban was just one of the ten shareholders within the organization adding that one or two shareholders cannot call for the closure of the paper according to the Article of Association.

Juba Monitor produced two editions in defiance of the legal order, which prompted the arrest of the Editor-in-Chief, Anna Nimiriano on Tuesday 19/04/2022.

“I was arrested in the office. I was doing my work in the office and I was surprised to see the police with the family members of the late Alfred Taban plus the representative of the family who is not the legitimate person representing the heirs of the late Alfred Taban,” she told Juba Echo exclusively.

Nimiriano said she was arrested and taken to the police station while any attempts to intervene from her lawyer was thwarted.

“They came and arrested me and took me and when my lawyer asked them why they were taking the case like that, they said we were going to resolve the issue from the office. When we reached Malaika Police Station, I saw a car marked Juba prisons come and a police officer ordered me to enter the car,” Juba Monitor Editor she explained.

“When we arrived at the Juba Central Prisons, they handed me to the administration of the prison and I was put in without any hearing in the court for both sides of the company and the family of the late Alfred Taban. But it was an order from the judge that I should be put in,” Nimiriano said.

Nimiriano was released on Friday after spending three days behind bars.  She told local media after her release that Juba Monitor is owned by 10 shareholders not just one person as the family claims.

“Juba Monitor is owned by 10 shareholders and every shareholder has a percentage from the shares of the business,” she told Juba Echo.

The Union of Journalists of South Sudan and civil society have appealed to the court to allow the paper to reopen. But the case is still at the court.