Veteran S.Sudan journalist quits over death threats

Nhial Bol, editor of The Citizen newspaper and television station, shut by security forces in August, was among the most fervent supporters of South Sudan's independence in 2011, and subsequently a fearless critic of the current civil war (AFP Photo/Waakhe Simon Wudu)

Nairobi (AFP) - Respected South Sudan journalist Nhial Bol, who set up the country's first independent newspaper printing press, has quit journalism after threats, reports said Thursday.

Bol, editor of The Citizen newspaper and television station, shut by security forces in early August, was among the most fervent supporters of South Sudan's independence in 2011, and subsequently a fearless critic of the current 20-month old civil war.

"I suffered and endured everything because of the dream I had. And now, the dream is dead, and I choose to leave," Bol told the Sudan Tribune, adding "my security and safety have been threatened."

Seven journalists have been killed so far this year in South Sudan, including a reporter last month shot in an apparently targeted attack, days after President Salva Kiir publicly threatened to kill journalists who reported "against the country."

Kiir's spokesman has since said the comments were taken out of context.

"It was a difficult choice to make, but I have finally decided to quit journalism after my family and I have concluded that I should stop due to security and safety reasons," Bol added.

A veteran, outspoken and independent reporter, Bol was repeatedly jailed by the government in Khartoum in north Sudan, before South Sudan broke away.

To bypass Khartoum's strict censorship laws, he imported a printing press from Europe, with the first editions printed in celebration on January 9, 2011, to mark the referendum that paved the way for South Sudan's full independence six months later.

South Sudan's civil war began in December 2013 when Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings that has split the poverty-stricken, landlocked country along ethnic lines.

Both sides have accused each other of breaking the latest ceasefire signed on August 29.

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