The President is incontinent and pees during a ceremony. Six journalists present on site for institutional reasons film the scene immortalized on video and are arrested for it. The protagonist of the video is the 71-year-old President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir.
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Journalists arrested over videos of incontinent president
Two media rights NGOs have now asked the authorities of the young African state (independent of Sudan since 2011 and led by Kiir) to release the six arrested journalists. Staff at the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), public broadcaster, were arrested by National Security Service agents on Tuesday, the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) denounced, citing reports from the media and other sources familiar with the case .
Viral video on social media
The six are under investigation over a video, which went viral on social media in December, showing the merciless act of getting the left pant leg of the president’s light gray dress suit wet during the performance of an anthem: standing alongside other people and military officials, leaning on his cane and hand over heart, Kiir clearly notices the urine running even across the asphalt, but chooses not to react. The arrests follow “a model” of “arbitrary detention whenever” those in power “believe that (media) coverage is unfavorable,” said Muthoki Mumo, CPJ representative for sub-Saharan Africa. For its part, the Union of Journalists of South Sudan has asked for an “immediate conclusion” to the investigation into the six people suspected of “being aware of the distribution of ‘a particular film’ to the public”.
It could always be worse.
We could be South Sudan:
Six journalists were arrested by South Sudanese security forces for disseminating footage of Salva Kiir, the nation’s President, apparently urinating on himself at an official event. pic.twitter.com/gsc9cMxM76
— Lost One (@ProdigalThe3rd) January 7, 2023
Last updated: Wednesday 11 January 2023 15:19
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