Patrick Oyet, CGTV correspondent in South Sudan and President of Union of Journalists in South Sudan - Courtesy

A South Sudanese journalist working for the Chinese Global Television Network in South Sudan has retrieved his media accreditations that were confiscated by national security personnel on Monday. 

Patrick Oyet, who is also the President of the Union of Journalists in South Sudan was recently appointed by President Salva Kiir as a member of the National Constitution Review Commission representing media organizations in the commission.

Oyet says he was harassed along with his cameraman, Samuel Abud while they were compiling a report on refugees.

The former SSBC news anchor says the Monday, January 15, 2024, incident occurred while they were engaged in routine journalistic work – filming a piece, a standard practice for television journalists globally.

The CGTN correspondent told Eye Radio that security personnel intercepted them and inquired about their media registration with the Media Authority and filming permissions.

Oyet says despite confirming their registration and possessing work permits, the security personnel went on to question their motives and ended up confiscating their IDs and accreditations.

However, they managed to recover their documents a day later after a meeting with a senior security officer who apologized for the incident.

“We were working on a story where the government of South Sudan said they need 1.8 billion dollars to be able to support host community refugees and returnees. However, we were approached by five security personnel,” Oyet said.

“They [security] asked us whether we were legally registered and we told them yes, we have been operating for many years now, and all the documents were there,” he said.

“They [security] say they want a letter that permits us to film, and we told them we don’t require a letter since we have accreditation from the Media Authority but they insisted on taking our accreditation documents, or they will take us with them.”

Oyet Patrick described the incident as a violation of press freedom in the country.

The president of the Union of Journalists in South Sudan called upon security personnel to uphold press freedom and respect the crucial role of the media in South Sudan.

“If they [security] continue behavior like what happened to us then definitely journalists will fear to do their work where they can provide accurate information to the public and especially election information,” Oyet said.