The two South Sudanese journalists who were detained over a video that went viral showing President Salva Kiir urinating on himself have been freed, this is after the media lobby group on Wednesday demanded for their release.
Out of the seven journalists arrested in January, two of them still remain in the police custody over the video that went viral in December, said the union of journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS).
The journalists working at the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation were arrested by agents from the National Security Service for investigation purposes into the source of the clip.
Kiir is dressed in his trademark black hat and a grey outfit at what is described as a road commissioning ceremony, is seen with a damp patch on his left trouser leg, as seen in the footage.
The union of journalists stills calls for the government to release the two journalists who are still behind bars. Being led by the union president Patrick Oyet, he urged the the government to present the two in court if they broke any law because the case has dragged for months and no solution has been found since according to the law investigations should be carried out and someone produced in court within 24hrs and if there is no case the person should be released.
In January, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists called for the unconditional release of the journalists and for state authorities to “ensure that they can work without further intimidation or threat of arrest.”
According to the media watchdog, freedom of the press is extremely precarious in the landlocked nation, where journalists work under constant threat and intimidation, and where censorship is ever-present.
By, Martha Biginga.
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