6 Journalists Arrested Over Video of South Sudan President ‘Urinating on Himself’

Six journalists in South Sudan have been in custody for a week after sharing footage on social media that appears to show President Salva Kiir urinating himself at a public event.

The video shows the 71-year-old standing for the national anthem at a road commissioning event in December while what seems to be a dark stain moves down his trouser leg. 

The journalists, who work for the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, are believed to be held at the National Security Headquarters in the capital, Juba. 

The government has long denied rumours that President Kiir, who has been in power since 2011, is unwell. 

Following the journalists’ arrest, media rights organisations in the country called for their immediate release. By law, authorities cannot detain someone for more than 24 hours without bringing charges against them. 

“Authorities’ arrests of six employees of the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation matches a pattern of security personnel resorting to arbitrary detention whenever officials deem coverage unfavourable,” The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement.

“Authorities should unconditionally release these six SSBC employees and ensure that they can work without further intimidation or threat of arrest.”

Patrick Oyet, the president of the South Sudan Union of Journalists, told Reuters that the journalists are being questioned “on how the video of the president urinating himself came out.”