N. Bahr el Ghazal governor accused of threatening judiciary Article Comments (1) Email PrintSave --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 16, 2011 (JUBA) – Judicial officials in South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal say they have been threatened by the state’s governor after the release of and re-arrest of government officials accused of attempting to organize demonstrations. On 23 March nine state officials were arrested and released in late March without charge after appearing twice before court. However, relatives and immediate family members in repeated interviews with Sudan Tribune said the officials were again returned to the prison a day after their release, claiming that both the attorney general and the judge handling the case were threatened with dismissal from their jobs by the state governor for releasing them without his consent. A 12 member parliamentary and executive delegation, headed by speaker of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Legislative Assembly, Aguer Wol Aguer, and Governor Paul Malong Awan Anei, arrived in the South Sudan capital of Juba on Saturday, amid conflicting reports on the visit. The visit came days after the human rights commission submitted a fact finding report on the condition of the nine unidentified political rivals within the state government whom the state security and police suspect wrote letter calling for demonstrations against the incumbent governor, General Paul Malong Awan Anei. Judicial officials in series of interviews with Sudan Tribune at the time confirmed they were threatened and that a police officer on duty at the time was also arrested but released later after spending two days in detention for taking them to the court without seeking approval from the chain of command. The judicial officials said they communicated the situation to higher authorities in Juba. Neither the Northern Bahr el Ghazal state governor nor any of one of his cabinet members offered comments following attempts by Sudan Tribune to seek clarifications on the arrest of the police officer as well as the allegations that judges were threatened by the state governor. In late March 2011, South Sudan president summoned governor Malong after having been approached by many people who spoke of the poor conditions of the prison in which the suspects were being held. A highly placed source and reports emanating from the office of the president indicate that the governor, in his March meeting with South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, denied knowing why the suspects were arrested and claimed the issue was still with the security services and that he had received no report on which he would take action. On 13 April the South Sudan Human Rights Commission chairperson, Laurent Korbandy, said in an interview with Sudan Tribune that his office received the information of the arrests and immediately responded by sending a fact finding team to investigate. He said the team returned to Juba and had submitted the report to the office of the president. "We heard nine people were arrested in Aweil in March this year and the condition of the prison in which they were detained were bad. So we sent the team for investigation and returned to Juba with their findings," said Korbandy. The team compiled report with legal recommendations on which the president would decide what to do immediately after they returned. Korbandy said the report only contains legal recommendations and advice. He declined to give details of the report’s recommendations. Despite the report from the human rights commission pressure has been mounting on members of Northern Bahr el Ghazal’s State Legislative Assembly to summon the governor to explain the arrests and allegations of threats to the judiciary. Some politicians have also suggested that members of the parliament consider asking for South Sudan’s President to intervene if the governor fails to order the release of the officials. An eyewitness at Juba International Airport told Sudan Tribune that they saw an eight member parliamentary delegation headed by speaker of Northern Bahr el Ghazal disembarked from a chartered plane. Ajou Deng, a citizen of Northern Bahr el Ghazal who lives in Juba told Sudan Tribune on Saturday that the plane was also carrying a separate four member executive delegation reportedly led by Governor Paul Malong. South Sudan is due to become independent in July following an almost unanimous vote for secession in January. The plebiscite was agreed as part of a 2005 peace deal that ended over two decades of civil war between north and south Sudan. A government minister who comes from northern Bahr el Ghazal in a separate interview with Sudan Tribune said the visiting 12 member delegation headed by the state governor came for a different political mission, which had nothing to do with the issue of those arrested in Aweil. "Some of them came to my office after their arrival. I sent them some vehicles to receive them at the airport because they had requested my assistance. Their visit has nothing with the arrest of those who are arrested in Aweil. They are for different mission. The people who have come cannot come to Juba with political mission against governor Malong. They are all his supporters. So I believe they have come as lobby group for him (Governor Malong)," said the senior government official who requested to remain anonymous. "My friend Malong is currently lobbying support for appointment into one of the four positions he has identified. He is therefore seeking presidential assurance before July. This is why he brought this group. He needs to be appointed into either ministry of internal affairs, ministry of defense, Director of National Intelligence and Security Service or Chief of General Staff," he explained. He named Speaker Aguer Wol Aguer, former state minister of education, Kuac Wek Wol, Hegma Ali Malek, Daniel Diing Akol, Zachariah Garang Lual, Akoon Diing Angok, head of the SPLM caucus in the state Assembly, Vivex Atak Longar Duang, and chairperson for Legal Affairs committee in the State Assembly, Ernest Mangok Mangok Deng as members of the parliamentary delegation. On the executive side he named Governor Malong Awan Anei, his political advisor, Jal Malith Jal, Legal Affairs minister in the state government, Madut Santino Deng Teng and the State Minister of Finance Ronald Ruay Deng. While attempts made by Sudan Tribune to reach Governor Malong and Speaker Aguer failed, Hegma Ali Malek, a member of the parliamentary delegation confirmed they were on political mission with intention to meet President Kiir and other high level government officials. "We have of course come here for [a] political mission. Such a high level delegation cannot be on [a] private mission. We have come to meet our president and other members of our government to discuss with them political issues pertinent to Northern Bahr el Ghazal. We have also come to brief our government on the general situation in the state," said Malek declining to give additional comments. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
