South Sudan Security forces are seen here in this September 2017 photo escorting soldiers accused of raping five foreign aid workers and killing one local journalist. Photo: Getty Images/File
Nairobi, January 8, 2023 (SSNA) — South Sudan’s National Security has detained six journalists who work for the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation Television (SSBCTV) over a viral video showing President Salva Kiir peeing on himself, Patrick Oyet, the Head of South Sudan Union of Journalists told the Reuters news agency.
The arrest comes weeks after footage of Kiir, showing the President wetting on himself at a public function on December 13, 2022.
[The journalists] “are suspected of having knowledge on how the video of the President urinating himself came out,” Patrick Oyet said.South Sudan Ministry of Information, Communication, Technology, and Postal Services says the detained journalists knew who was behind the release of the video and that the footage of Kiir showing he was urinating on himself was never aired by the SSBCTV.
The detained SSBC journalist are Jacob Benjamin, Mustafa Osman, Victor Lado, Joval Tombe, Cherbek Ruben, and Joseph Oliver.
South Sudan National Security has little or no tolerance for journalists who are critical of the government.