S. Sudanese security agents free Warrap MPs from detention
May 14, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudanese security agents have released two Warrap state lawmakers detained on orders of of the state governor, Nyandeng Malek last week.
The legislators were accused of organising protests over rising cost of living and masterminding students protest in the state capital, over the newly introduced system of education in the country.
Their arrest generated widespread condemnation from parliament, which then passed a resolution calling for their immediate release.
Ariech, in an interview with Sudan Tribune on Thursday, confirmed his release after five days in detention, but denied the charges labelled against him and his colleague.
“Those accusations are baseless and unfounded. They do not carry any truth. They are lies fabricated to confuse and conceal conspiracy meted out against us for voting in parliament against the minister of finance summoned on corruption matters”, he said.
Ariech said he was mainly arrested after he recently questioned the legitimacy of the current governor’s stay in office, given that her term in office had already expired.
“There are four reasons I know caused this arrest. One reason is that the arrest was ordered simply to intimidate me for voting against the minister of finance on corruption matters when he was summoned by the parliament to provide explanation on how the 2014 and 2015 budget has spent and to explain why educational transfers to the counties from the national ministry of education were not made”, he said.
The governor’s office had not released any information on the lawmakers’ release.
This week, South Sudanese president Salva Kiir met the country’s 10 state governors over their new mandates, after it emerged that their terms in office had expired.
In April, the national legislative assembly extended the mandate of president Kiir and the country’s lawmakers for additional three years. Kiir’s term was due to expire on 8 July.
(ST).