Former Wau County Commissioner Charged The former Wau County Commissioner John Peter Miskin is facing ten separate charges in connection to last year’s violent protests in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal State. 07 March 2013 By James Deng Dimo
WAU, 7 March 2013[Gurtong] - Miskin is accused of mobilizing youth to destabilize the state after he resigned from his post earlier in October 2012. The court hearing which was adjourned last week resumed in the presence of three defence lawyers and government legal advisor following request for enough time to prepare with his advocate. Executive Director of Wau County Fasco Fasquale accused Mr Miskin of agitating the violence using youth from Wau County, blocking roads linking the town to villages, destroying public property, burning homes and setting the national flag on fire. The investigator read out charges revolving around the violence with three out of ten witnesses testifying against the former commissioner. Mr Fasquale will testify in the next session when he brings an official letter mandating him to represent the county. On Wednesday, Member of Parliament Hassan Ngor Aguer who was also arrested in a similar case appeared in court charged with crimes related to the Farajalla killings. Miskin resigned from his post last year and was arrested along with some youth, politicians in December after Wau violent protests where dozens of people were killed. The Amnesty International released a report that the government has detained scores of opposition figures without issuing arrest warrants or giving them access to lawyers since unrest broke out in December 2012. South Sudan has struggled to establish the rule of law since it split from Sudan in July in 2011 following a long civil war that left the new country awash with weapons. Ten people were killed in the town of Wau in December when security forces opened fire on a protest against the relocation of a local council headquarters. At least 13 others were killed during unrest that followed the shooting. Since the violence, the government of Bahr El Ghazal state has detained 100 people, among them opposition figures, civil society activists, journalists and security officers, Amnesty International said in a report. "Arrests of perceived opponents of the government continue to be carried out," the group said. "While some of these arrests appear to have a legitimate basis, evidence gathered by Amnesty International shows that many of the arrests were arbitrary and contravene provisions in national and international law," it said. The failure of the authorities to properly investigate the violence has increased tensions in Wau, Amnesty said. The Western Bahr el Ghazal State Governor, Rizik Hassan Zacharia criticized the report and said that the report is unfair and biased. The governor also criticized the report which he says ‘claims’ the demonstration was peaceful. He challenged the report arguing that the demonstration was not legal and that the demonstrators had not obtained a document from police. Posted in: Home, Governance Comments -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
