Over 700 inmates face trial in W. Lakes state court

August 9, 2016 (RUMBEK) – More than 700 inmates are due to be tried in a court in South Sudan’s Western Lakes states for various crimes committed, authorities said.

The state governor, Abraham Makoi Bol, said he held discussions with the country’s chief justice on congestion in Rumbek prison. Four judges were approved to try cases.

Currently, Bol said, Rumbek prison is holding 715 inmates on murder charges, cattle theft as well as highway robberies.

Some inmates have already spent three to four years without any charges placed upon them, according to Bol.

Rumbek has been locked in a cycle of inter-communal clashes and poor leadership that left civilians at odds with the state administration. All murders cases where difficult to be track on time because the population declined to provide information to security agents.

(ST)