By Deng Ghai Deng<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The arrest of journalist Ruot George on Monday has sparked widespread condemnation from South Sudan\u2019s journalism community.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The arrest follows a defamation case filed by The Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) against George, who has been vocal in his criticisms of the Union’s leadership.<\/p>\n Police Investigator William Yach at Juba Town Police Station confirmed George’s detention, stating, \u201cMr. Ruot has been arrested. He is here at Juba Town Police Station. He is being investigated and shall be released on bail.\u201d<\/p>\n George\u2019s arrest is linked to his ongoing dispute with UJOSS, where he has accused the leadership of corruption, mismanagement of funds, altering the Union\u2019s constitution, and failing to convene a general assembly. UJOSS has denied these allegations.<\/p>\n The arrest has ignited outrage among journalists, who view the action as an attempt to silence dissent and undermine free speech within the Union. Mr. Gorge was later released on bail.<\/p>\n Koang Pal Chang, manager of Eye Radio, expressed his disapproval in a WhatsApp forum for South Sudanese journalists, criticizing UJOSS for taking drastic measures against a fellow journalist.<\/p>\n \u201cThe UJOSS, once a staunch advocate for journalists’ rights, is now arresting them,\u201d Chang wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s disheartening to see leaders like Oyet and Majak behaving similarly to Ruot, who is known for seeking attention. As role models for many journalists, you both must restore your integrity and avoid being drawn into unnecessary drama.\u201d<\/p>\n Journalist Mathiang Cirilo also condemned the arrest, suggesting that the Union should have addressed George\u2019s concerns through an extraordinary General Assembly meeting rather than resorting to legal action.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no moral justification for this arrest. The union should have taken better action, such as filing a lawsuit in court. What a shame,\u201d Cirilo commented.<\/p>\n Another journalist Lieth Nyak Jock warned that the arrest threatens freedom of speech and undermines journalistic independence.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is clear that the Chairperson and the Secretary General of the UJOSS are responsible for this arrest. We are dismayed by the action taken against a journalist over office disputes rather than addressing alleged misconduct through a competent court of law,\u201d Nyak stated.<\/p>\n He called for a thorough and impartial investigation and urged the Union to address George\u2019s accusations transparently.<\/p>\n In response, UJOSS President Patrick Oyet said that he had attempted to resolve the issues with George amicably but without success.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were left with no option but to take legal action,\u201d Oyet told this outlet. \u201cThe due process was followed, an arrest warrant was issued, and he has been arrested. If Mr. Ruot has evidence to substantiate his allegations of criminal behaviour on our part, he should present it. If not, the law will take its course.\u201d<\/p>\n Oyet criticized George for allegedly reaching out to UJOSS donors to halt their funding, suggesting that such actions have escalated the situation beyond a manageable dispute.<\/p>\n \u201cThe defamation has gone too far to be ignored,\u201d Oyet added.<\/p>\n Ruot George previously served as the Program Coordinator at UJOSS and represents Unity State on the national UJOSS executive board.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Deng Ghai Deng The arrest of journalist Ruot George on Monday has sparked widespread condemnation from South Sudan\u2019s journalism community. The arrest follows a defamation case filed by The Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) against George, who has been vocal in his criticisms of the Union’s[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":28477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Journalist-Ruot-George-in-police-custody.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28476"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28478,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28476\/revisions\/28478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}