Six journalists who were arrested in South Sudan over the circulation of a video that appeared to show President Salva Kiir wetting himself in public must be released, rights groups said.
The video showed Kiir urinating on himself as the national anthem played at event held in December last year.
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The Committee to Protect Journalists (CJP) has called for the release of the detained journalists.
Rights groups in the country have often urged authorities to stop harassing and threatening journalists. Dozens of journalists have been arrested in South Sudan in the past for coverage that may be deemed unfavorable towards the president or government, according to CPJ’s sub-Saharan Africa representative Muthoki Mumo.
The six staff members of South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation were arrested last week over allegations that they had “knowledge on how the video of the president urinating himself came out,” President of South Sudan Union of Journalists Patrick Oyet told Reuters.
The broadcasting company says the footage was never aired.
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