South Sudan Editor Detained Without Charge

December 19, 2024 – Sudan –

Emmanuel Monychol Akop, editor-in-chief of The Dawn newspaper, was arrested on November 28, 2024, by agents of South Sudan’s National Security Service after responding to a summons to their headquarters in Juba. Detained without any formal charges or access to legal counsel, his arrest marks yet another instance of the oppressive use of intelligence services against independent journalism in the country. His family was informed that neither visits nor updates would be permitted until the so-called investigation was complete, while colleagues voiced deep concern for his well-being and access to basic human rights.

Before this incident, Akop had faced a similar ordeal in 2019 when he was held for a month following a Facebook post perceived as critical of a government minister. At the time, Human Rights Watch called the detention arbitrary and emblematic of a broader pattern of harassment against media workers. The recurring nature of his detentions underlines a distressing pattern in which the NSS summons, detains, and silences journalists without due process.

Law in South Sudan mandates that detainees be presented before a court within 24 hours and sets a six-month limit on pretrial detention, but neither seems to have been followed in Akop’s case. Civil society advocates and press freedom groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, Amnesty International, and the Union of Journalists of South Sudan, have called for the authorities to either proceed with legitimate charges or release him unconditionally.  These calls emphasize that justice cannot be deferred under a veil of intimidation.

In May 2025, Radio Tamazuj reported that Akop was released after six months in detention. While welcomed by activist groups, the release was criticized as insufficient, with many asserting that the prolonged detention itself represented a violation of the rule of law. Critics contend that systemic reforms to limit the NSS’s unchecked powers are essential to prevent further abuses..

Emmanuel Monychol Akop’s ordeal serves as a stark indicator of South Sudan’s repressive environment toward independent media. His case highlights the critical need for legal protections and accountability mechanisms to safeguard journalists from extrajudicial detention. Without such reforms, journalists in South Sudan will continue to operate under the shadow of intelligence service retaliation and a fundamentally broken justice system.

Reference – 

https://sudantribune.com/article294840/

South Sudan editor Emmanuel Monychol Akop detained without charge by intelligence agents