The South Sudan Union of Journalists has raised concerns about restriction of press freedom in the country following the closure of the Nation Mirror newspaper.

On Wednesday, the daily was ordered to close indefinitely after publishing the Sentry report implicating politicians and military generals on corruption.

Daniel Majak, who is the paper’s assistant editor, said the story was first checked by a security officer before it was approved for printing.

“On Monday evening after we finalized editing of our PDF, we then took it for printing,” Mr Majak explained to Eye Radio.

“There were national security officers who were deployed there. They first reviewed what the paper was going to print.

“And after seeing the Sentry corruption report, the officer turned nervous and said he had to consult.

“So they consulted for over 40 minutes …while we were waiting whether the paper could be printed or the story removed.

“But later on, he came back and said: ‘Okay. You can print the paper’.”

However, he said the paper was later summoned and issued with an order authorizing for its closure.

The chairperson of the South Sudan Union of Journalists, Oliver Modi, said there are interferences with the work of journalists.

He said it can only be resolved by having a functional Media Authority in place.

“As the media authority structures are not functional, we will continue to face problems with the security and they begin to now check stories whether they are professionally written or not,” Mr Modi told Eye Radio.

Efforts to speak to the government for comment on the matter were not successful