Naivasha Media Production Celebrates the Release of Ngor Garang and Dengdit Ayok
Juba, November 22, 2011
The staff of suspended Destiny, Al Masir Newspapers, media houses in Juba, friends and relatives celebrated the release of Ngor Garang and Dengdit Ayok who were arrested by National security Service (NSS) – Ngor Garang on November 1st and Dengdit Ayok on November 5 respectively. Naivasha Media Production organized the welcoming celebration for the release of said journalists. Note: this article is incomplete as the author was called for urgent meeting; he left in the middle of speeches, thus he did not cover all the speakers including the release journalists.
The arrest of the editor-in-chief and his deputy and the closure of Destiny newspaper came right after publication of an opinion article written by Dengdit Ayok criticizing the South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayadrit for allowing his daughter to marry an Ethiopian migrant.
The Staff and media houses on Sunday November 20 welcome the return of Editor-in-Chief Garang Ngor, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief Deng Ayok, of Destiny Daily who were released after 18 days in detention.
“We are very happy today to have you among us Ngor Arol and Deng Ayok,” master of ceremony and reporter of Al Masir Arabic daily Mr. Abraham Malek told the conferees who gathered in Al Masir Newspaper headquarters’ Conference hall on Sunday afternoon. As the two of you have seen on Friday afternoon, November 18, all the staff of Al Masir, Destiny daily and the residents of the Munuki, Hai Kuwait where the newspaper office is allocated were very happy to see the two of you released. Residents were disappointed and helpless when Dengdit Ayok was round up on Saturday November 5 on their watch. They are relieved to see you back. It was one of the best days for us and our neighbor residents – welcome Ngor Garang and Dengdit Garang said Abraham Malek.
Dr. Dhieu Mathok, the Chairman of board of directors of the Destiny daily was equally happy with released of Ngor Garang and Dengdit Ayok. Welcome Ngor Garang and Dengdit Ayok! He explained the efforts made by the leadership of Destiny who published apology to the first family, suspended the publication of Destiny for 5 days and Dengdit Ayok for one month. After these processes, he went to the ministry of information and Broadcasting in person to deliver the apology to them and brief the ministry about the action taken by the board. The ministry appreciates and welcomes the board decision.
The Ministry advice Dr. Dhieu to delivers similar copy of the board’s decision to NSS which he did. The Director General of NSS did not honor the board decision, instead he demanded for Deng Ayok to be brought before him which was rejected by Dr. Dhieu on the basis that Ayok is already punished by the newspaper authority. Dr. Dhieu told NSS that any concerns regarding the article written by Dengdit Ayok published on Destiny should be directed to him (Dr. Dhieu) because he is the Chairman of board and not Ayok. After long discussion, the NSS boss requested for a meeting with Editor-in chief of Destiny and Al Masir to discuss security concerns with two newspapers.
Dr. Mathok Comply with request, he called both editors: Ngor Garang of Destiny and Atem Simon of Al Masir came and attend the meeting. According to Dr. Dhieu, the meeting between NSS, editors and him which last for 2 hours was good, because all the concerns between the two parties were discussed and resolved. At the end of the meeting, Dr. Mathok was surprised be served with copy for the suspension of the Destiny and Ngor Garang was detained right away. Dr. Mathok tried to negotiate with them, but it was unsuccessful. Dr. Dhieu left and report what happened to Dr. Marial Benjamin, Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Gen. Uyai Deng, Minister of National Security. Both ministers were not aware about the arrest and suspension of the newspaper.
Dr. Dhieu told the gathering, the release of Ngor Garang would not have been possible without the support and pressure put on NSS by national and international organizations which included and not limited to Sudan Tribune, Reporters without Borders, Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS), Amnesty International, Committee to Protect Journalists CPJ), Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), South Sudan Human Rights Society for Advocacy (SSHURSA), Human Rights Watch and all the media houses in Juba and South Sudanese in Diasporas, all condemned the arrest. Thank you all for your support and firm stand.
Mr. Agok Makur, Advocate of the Destiny Daily expressed concern over the increasing dangers faced by journalists in South Sudan and called for respect for the media freedom, freedom expression and independence media. He expresses the need to pass the media law.
Dr. Hakim Moi stressed the need for the passage of the Media Bill currently in draft and urged that the occasion of the arrest and release of the two journalists should galvanize the effort to have media legislation in place. He buttressed the view that the arrested journalists had not “crossed the (legal) line” because there was no line to cross in the first place because there are no laws to govern the behavior of journalists.
He enumerated the different aspects of the Media Bill which includes right to information, the institution of a regulatory body etc.
He referred to the AMDISS Release defending the release of the detained journalists as a reference for the views of the Association. Dr. Moi promised that AMDISS will organize a large home-coming celebration in days to come for reception Ngor Garang and Dengdit Ayok to be held in Nyakuroun Cultural Center
The author is an independent observer based in juba and he can be reached at tongdeng2001@yahoo.com
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