South Sudan opposition party renews demand for release of member ArticleComments (11). Email PrintSave --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Ngor Arol Garang October 31, 2011 (JUBA) - South Sudan’s main opposition party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement for Democratic Change (SPLM-DC) on Monday called for the release of its currently under arrest. Onyoti Adigo, the leader of the opposition party in the National Assembly on 21 October said in an interview with the South Sudanese newspaper Daily Destiny, that three officials allied to the SPLM-DC were arrested at gunpoint by government agents and driven to an undisclosed location. He named James Okuk and Sabino Tom as among those arrested at the time, leading to speculation that Okuk was targeted due to anti-government statements he made on the internet. “Until this moment, we have not seen any concrete evidence. No case has been filed against James Okuk. He remains under detention without being charged or taken to the court,” Adigo told The Destiny on Monday. “I call on the government to educate and encourage all security organs including those at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to abide and respect the constitution of the Republic of South Sudan. Uphold freedom of speech as well as freedom of expression and more importantly respect for human rights,” explained Adigo. He argued that the arrest not only contravenes the right to freedom of expression as enshrined in the Transitional Constitution of Republic of South Sudan, but also the bill of rights which gives persons under detention the right to know the cause of their arrest. “All the procedures followed to arrest James Okuk were wrong. They know he works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation but did not follow these procedures. They just picked him up without informing his ministry,” said Adigo. He also claimed that there was not sufficient evidence to support the claim that the articles in question, which criticise the President of South Sudan, was written by Okuk. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" 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/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
