Journalists arrested over video in which South Sudanese president appears to urinate on himself

Photo: PETER LOUIS GUME/AFP/Getty Images

The diffusion of painful and uncomfortable scenes on video for him South Sudanese President Salva Kiir caused the arrest of 6 journalists in that African country.

The Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) reported that six journalists from the state broadcaster South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) were arrested for becoming aware of the release of “certain sequence of images” to the public, in which Kiir is allegedly seen urinating his pants during an official function.

The non-profit organization asked for the speedy conclusion of the investigation against the collaborators of the state television channel.

“UJOSS calls for the swift conclusion of the investigation of the six members of the SSBC staff, who are currently in the custody of the National Security Services”, reads the statement released through Facebook.

The detained journalists are the camera operators Joseph Oliver and Mustafa Osman; video editor Victor Lado; contributor Jacob Benjamin; and Cherbek Ruben and Joval Toombe, from the control room.

They are suspected of knowing how the video came to light of the president allegedly urinating on himself.

The images that led to the arrest of the journalists

According to a Reuters report, the images, recorded in December, they showed a dark stain spreading across the president’s gray pants71, while standing singing the national anthem at a road opening ceremony.

The video it did not air on televisionbut it circulated and is circulating on different social networks, such as Twitter.

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