Six reporters get thrown in jail over video of Sudanese President wetting himself on live TV

A group of reporters has been thrown in prison over their suspected connection to an embarrassing video of the President of South Sudan.

President Salva Kiir Mayardit faced an embarrassing moment at an event on December 13 when a damp patch appeared down his trousers while the national anthem was playing.

In the leaked footage the 71-year-old can be seen looking down, apparently only just noticing the fresh damp patch.

As you'd expect with such a high-profile figure, the footage went wild on social media.

While people around the world had something to say about the elderly man, six journalists were arrested in connection to the leak, the national journalist's union told Reuters.

The Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) identified those detained as camera operators Joseph Oliver and Mustafa Osman; video editor Victor Lado; contributor Jacob Benjamin; and Cherbek Ruben and Joval Toombe.

The union says they all work at the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation.

Peter Cavanagh / Alamy Stock Photo

UJOSS President Patrick Oyet told Reuters the news team 'is suspected of having knowledge on how the video of the president urinating himself came out'.

He added: "We are concerned because those who are detained now have stayed longer than what the law says.

As per the law in South Sudan, authorities can only detain suspects for 24 hours before they must appear before a judge.

Sub-Saharan Africa representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists Muthoki Mumo added that the arrests are unsurprising and match 'a pattern of security personnel resorting to arbitrary detention whenever officials deem coverage unfavourable'.

Since the news of the arrests broke, government officials have copped a roasting on social media over their attempt to curb press freedom.

One Twitter user said: "And South Sudan was ranked higher than India in the Press Freedom Index."

@ronaldmuhinda / Twitter

A second asked: "Why are journalists punished for the president of Sudan who wet himself in front of cameras? That's an abuse of power."

A third pointed out: "The South Sudan government is pissed about the president pissing himself. The culprit is the president's bladder, not the journalists."

The six arrests have now garnered the ire of international press freedom groups, including the International Press Institute (IPI).

The IPI said: "South Sudan should immediately release six journalists detained last week.

"The journalists were arrested on suspicion of disseminating a video that appeared to show the president wetting himself at a public event."

South Sudan's Office of the President has been approached for comment.