S. Sudan threaten lawsuit over president’s death rumour

June 14, 2015 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese government is proposing legal action against two Sudanese newspapers, which published reports claiming president Salva Kiir had allegedly died after illness.

“These Sudanese papers published with confidence the death of the president. They have written it in their pages in bold. If the president was dead then they would have been right but now the president is alive, healthy and strong,” Ateny said on Sunday.

Ateny said government would carry out investigation to find out the source of these allegations, before heading to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, with enough evidence to sue the two publications.

The legal team in president’s office will now study possibilities of going to Khartoum and open a case in the Sudanese courts, he said.

Prior to his departure for the African Union (AU) summit in South Africa on Saturday, president Kiir told the state-owned SSTV he was in good health, having “resurrected”.

“Do dead people board airplane on their own, walk or speak? I’m ok. To those who said I was dead, I have resurrected and there is no problem”, said Kiir.

Multiple government critics argued that the decision of the presidency allowing Kiir to go on foreign trip, despite concerns over his health, allegedly as an opportunity to attend to seek medical care in South Africa and also show the public he was not sick as claimed.

(ST)