NSS releases Garang John without charge

South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation journalist Garang John has been released on Thursday evening without charge.

The SSBC reporter was detained by the National Security Service (NSS) in January 16, 2023. The reason behind his detention remains unknown.

However, in a Facebook post, John says: “Note that I am out of jail after 60 days of confinement.”

He went on to say that he developed lung problem during the arbitrarily confinement.

“My health is totally compromised. I can’t feel my brain. Doctors are yet to figure out what’s wrong with my lungs. I am completely weak and tired..,” he writes.

In January, six Journalists were picked up and taken to the NSS detention facility, commonly known as blue house, for investigation over the leaked video of President Kiir urinating on himself while singing the national anthem during a an event in Awerial County, Lakes State.

Days later, Gararang was picked and detained, becoming the seventh journalist implicated in the case.

But on February 18, the authorities freed three journalists, namely: Joval Tombe, the control room director, Cherbek Reuben, the control room technician and Joseph Oliver a cameraman.

The fate of the other three journalist is unknow.

Since the NSS Act in 2014, the NSS has accumulated unchecked powers, becoming one of the main perpetrators of human rights violations and the most powerful security actor in South Sudan.

Exceeding the NSS’s constitutional mandate, which limit its powers to “information gathering, analysis and advice to the relevant authorities,” the 2014 NSS Act gives the security agency police-like powers to arrest, detain, conduct searches and seize property without adequate safeguards.