South Sudan’s national security releases journalist Garang John

JUBA, FEBRUARY 20^th 2023 (SUDANS POST) – South Sudan’s intelligence agency, the National Security Service (NSS), on Friday last week released journalist Garang John who was arrested in late January over viral video of President Salva Kiir Mayardit.

In the video circulating online, Kiir – 71 – appeared to be wetting on himself during a function where the president was inaugurating a road project connecting the country’s capital Juba to the Greater Bahr el Ghazal region.

The National Security Agency then arrested six journalists – on January 6^th – over the circulation of the viral video online. Two weeks later, the agency arrested Garang John after one of the detained journalists reportedly implicated him in the circulation of the video.

Speaking to Sudans Post this afternoon, a journalist working for the state-own South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) said Garang John was released by the National Security Service on Friday last week after the intervention of some senior government officials.

“Journalists Garang has been released. He is free. He was released on Friday last week and the number of journalists who have been released now has become four and those remaining in the detention are just three,” the source said.

Attempts to contact Garang John were unsuccessful, but one of his close friend confirmed to Sudans Post that Garang John had indeed been released, but “has been told not to speak to the media until when there is a new update from the security service.”