Six staffers with South Sudan’s national broadcaster have been detained in connection with footage apparently showing the country’s president urinating on himself during an event.
The South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation footage aired in December and was widely shared online showed 71-year-old President Salva Kiir standing during the national anthem and then looking down at what appeared to be him urinating before the camera turned away.
The Union of Journalists of South Sudan called for a speedy investigation into the staffers who are being held by the National Security Service (NSS).
The union said the staffers are suspected of having knowledge of the public release of “a certain footage.”
The NSS, officials in the presidency, and the national broadcaster are yet to respond to enquiries.
Kiir has been South Sudan’s president since the country secured its independence from Sudan in 2011.
The presidential election was recently postponed again, this time to late 2024, amid the slow implementation of a 2018 peace deal ending a five-year civil war.
