Journalists arrested in South Sudan over videos of President Kiir

Status: 07.01.2023 5:32 p.m

In December, a video of South Sudanese President Kiir circulating showed him with a wet pant leg. Six journalists have now been arrested.

Six journalists have been arrested in South Sudan over a video allegedly showing the country’s president wetting. The journalists from the state television station SSBC had already been arrested on Tuesday, said the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) in New York. However, according to an SSBC spokesman, the broadcaster did not air the footage.

In December, the recordings had spread on YouTube and social media. It shows that 71-year-old President Salva Kiir Mayardit seems to have gotten a wet pant leg at an official event, which means he may have wet himself. This caused discussions as to whether he is still up to the task.

South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011. The security situation is highly unstable.

Arrests for “unfavourable” reporting

The arrests of the reporters showed a tendency for South Sudanese security forces to detain journalists in response to “unfavourable” reporting, CPJ representative for Southern Africa Muthoko Mumo said. The reporters must be released immediately and “be able to work without intimidation or the threat of arrest.” The country’s journalists’ union called for a fair trial if indicted.

South Sudan is the youngest nation in the world and was formed in 2011 when it seceded from Sudan. President Kiir, head of the South Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, has ruled the country ever since. His government is accused of numerous human rights violations. The country’s security situation is extremely fragile, even though the civil war officially ended in 2018, with around 400,000 dead. Violence had recently escalated again in several parts of the country, with various armed groups fighting for power and influence.

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