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MediaSouth Sudan

South Sudan journalists detained over viral video

January 6, 2023

Several journalists have been arrested after a video of President Salva Kiir allegedly wetting himself went viral. A local journalist union has called for the investigation to be concluded quickly.

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President Salva Kiir
President Salva Kiir has held onto the top job since South Suden gained independence in 2011Image: Brian Inganga/AP Photo/picture alliance

Six people working with South Sudan's national broadcaster have been arrested in connection with a viral video that showed President Salva Kiir wetting himself during an official event, the Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) said in a statement on Friday.

Footage by the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) showed the 71-year-old president standing during the national anthem at an opening ceremony in December in the capital Juba in which he appears to be urinating on himself.

The six SSBC staffers were arrested on Tuesday after the video went viral.

Among those detained were the director of the station's control room, a content editor and several cameramen and technicians who were allegedly present during the filming.

Union calls for quick conclusion

Official sources at the Ministry of Information for the world's youngest country said that the journalists were helping with the investigation.

UJOSS called for a "speedy conclusion to the investigation" by the National Security Service (NSS) in a statement, adding that the staffers had been arrested on suspicion of having "knowledge of the release of 'a certain footage' to the public."

"If there is a prima facie case of professional misconduct or offense then let authorities expedite an administrative or legal process to address the issue in a fair, transparent and in accordance with the law," union chair Oyet Patrick Charles said.

Local news site Sudans Post reported that other journalists in the country had been concerned by harassment from the NSS as it looked for possible culprits.

Reporters Without Borders ranked South Sudan at 128 out 180 countries in terms of press freedom in 2022, falling by more than 10 places from the 2021 index.

Kiir has been president since the country gained its independence in 2011. He has postponed presidential elections several times, with the next vote now scheduled for 2024.

It comes as leaders slowly implement a 2018 peace deal that brought an end to a five-year civil war.

ab/aw (AP, LUSA)