The video, viral on social networks, shows the president urinating in his pants during an act in December
6 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The South Sudanese authorities have arrested six journalists from the state television channel in connection with a video considered insulting towards the figure of the country’s president, Salva kiir.
The video, which went viral on social media, shows Kiir urinating his pants during an event in the capital Juba in December. The images sparked a debate about the president’s health.
A journalist from the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) has indicated in statements to the Radio Tamazuj station that five of his colleagues were arrested on Tuesday at the headquarters of the chain, while a sixth was arrested in the state of Western Equatoria.
Among the detainees are the director of the chain’s control room, Joval Tombe, a content editor, and various cameras and technicians who were reportedly present during the event and recorded the images.
Official sources from the South Sudanese Ministry of Information have confirmed the arrests but have downplayed the matter by assuring that the journalists are helping in the investigations. “It is true that some of our colleagues were transferred, but they are not arrested,” they said.
“Security has pointed out that the video published on social networks turns out to be from SSBC, despite the fact that SSBC did not issue any news related to that video,” they said, before assuring that the journalists will be released soon.
South Sudan has a unity government that began after the materialization of the 2018 peace agreement, between Kiir and the until then rebel leader Riek Machar who returned to occupy the position of first vice president of the African country as a result of it.
