South Sudan’s High Court unmasks renowned spymaster ArticleComments (4)EmailPrintSave
December 14, 2016 (JUBA) – The High Court in South Sudan rejected a request by a National Security Service (NSS) operative, who spied on several individuals, to have his identity concealed, Legal Watch Associates South Sudan said a report released last week. Napoleon Adok Gai (Getty image) The 18-page report was part of findings into what transpired during inquiries into alleged corruption in the president’s office.The document details how Napoleon Adok Gai “illegally and “unlawfully” monitored phone communications of people suspected to be working against government. Napoleon appeared in person before the High Court judge after his request to have his face masked in order to hide his identity was rejected by court, the report stated.“He [Napoleon] testified during the trial of the 16 accused people as prosecution witness number 24 on 4 May 2016 to play phones recording that implicated accused number 8 [Kur Ayuen Kou] in the criminal proceedings,” it adds. Other phone recordings he played, according to the 18-page report, reportedly included phone conversations between John Agou and his wife, Anyieth Chaat Paul as well as conversations with one Andrew Awilly, a Kenyan national working with CFC Stanbic bank in Kenya. The security operative also claims he has, within his custody, phone recordings of Agou with his lawyer in Kenya, a house maid, the head teacher in the school where Agou’s son studies, as well as from close friends.“Napoleon claims that he has more than 100 audio voice recordings regarding the case,” further states the report. However, during cross examination by defense lawyers to verify if the phone conversations were done legally and lawfully, Napoleon reportedly told the court he was not authorised by the Director General of General Intelligence Bureau Gen. Thomas Duoth Guet, either verbally or in writing to intercept telephone calls of Kou. In his statement, he also confirmed he received no court order to intercept the same communication, but rather did it on “his own personal accord” and that he does not know if the phone recordings were relevant to the case. One of the lawyers who represented the accused persons told Sudan Tribune that such evidence of illegal phone recordings should not have been admitted in the first place as prosecution evidence, citing the case of Pagan Amum and others Versus Republic of South Sudan, 2014. The prosecution had by then presented the phone conversation between General Oyai Deng Ajak and Taban Deng Gai, as evidence to prove the alleged coup attempt during the December 2013 outbreak of conflict. However, the court dismissed those phone conversations as illegal and a violation of individual’s privacy because of the manner in which phone recordings were obtained.“The privacy of all persons shall be inviolable; no person shall be subjected to interference with his or her private life, family, home or correspondence, save in accordance with the law”, argued the defense lawyer, while quoting Article 22 of South Sudan’s Constitution. Further stated state the lawyer, “After the phone conversations were not admitted as evidence and there were no other evidence for the prosecution to rely on, the case collapsed and it was dismissed all together”. Over the years, however, the National Security Service has been monitoring phone communications of citizens with descending voices, political leaders, opposition lawmakers and civil society activists at their operation base called “Aquilla Center” opposite the SPLM House in contravention of Article 22 of the Transitional Constitution. “What is shocking in this particular case is the extent National Security Service surveillance program has extended to neighbouring countries to monitor citizens of other countries with complete disregard to jurisdiction and sovereignty of the Republic of Kenya,” a Juba-based security analyst told Sudan Tribune Thursday. (ST) Comments on the Sudan Tribune website must abide by the following rules. Contravention of these rules will lead to the user losing their Sudan Tribune account with immediate effect. - No inciting violence- No inappropriate or offensive language- No racism, tribalism or sectarianism- No inappropriate or derogatory remarks- No deviation from the topic of the article- No advertising, spamming or links - No incomprehensible commentsDue to the unprecedented amount of racist and offensive language on the site, Sudan Tribune tries to vet all comments on the site. There is now also a limit of 400 words per comment. If you want to express yourself in more detail than this allows, please e-mail your comment as an article to [email protected] Kind regards, The Sudan Tribune editorial team. 15 DECEMBER 08:45, BY choldit It may not be a good idea to illegally phone record others phone calls but revealing the identity of someone like Mr. Adok and the building he operates in is not a good idea for high court to do. This endangers that boy’s life and his future career. REPONDRE MESSAGE 15 DECEMBER 09:06, BY Eastern choldit, We shall unearth, expose, isolate and later kill overzealous NSS operatives. After completing their education in Sudan, most of these young men are jobless and the only job they can take is enrolling in NSS where they ride at the back of those abnoxious Toyota Land Cruiser pickups for the whole day under the sweltering heat of Juba just to protect Kiir. We will deal with you one by one!! REPONDRE MESSAGE 15 DECEMBER 10:44, BY choldit Eastern, I wish u know Adok Gai. He is well groomed by the president and his team. I wonder why the article is talking about Douth Guit as his boss he left Douth and the whole GIB long b4 the onset of war in 2013 if not a year or two b4 that. E posing mr Gai will just make things worth for high court as that boy is the main right hand and partner in crime to the president. REPONDRE MESSAGE 15 DECEMBER 12:34, BY Akook Adwok Gai is a long time well known criminal. Good that he is exposed doing what is a very stupid thing illegally wire taping others to earn a living. What a filthy smelly Adwok! REPONDRE MESSAGE COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE -- To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/southsudankob View this message at https://groups.google.com/d/msg/southsudankob/topic-id/message-id For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout --- 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]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14orvVAnAw_fsHLeU0SyY9_YnxHgdv1g%3DSC3s%3DJNmiWoa3g%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
