S. Sudan cops arrest killers of ex-police commissioner

August 31, 2013 (JUBA) – South Sudan police announced it arrested four people in connection with last year’s murder of its former commissioner for Eastern Equatoria state.

Andrew Koul Nyoun, the deputy police inspector confirmed the arrest, while briefing reporters at a press conference in Juba Friday.

He said the committee, which was instituted to investigate the incident, had completed its work and this led to the arrests.

“Four culprits confessed [of] the crime to the police and are now in the court [waiting] for judgment,” he said.

The cops, he added, initially arrested seven suspects, but three were set free after no evidence was found against them.

Those arrested, Nyoun said, are believed to be part of gangs that have been terrorizing people along the Juba-Torit highway.

Investigation in to the killing, he stressed, mainly succeeded as a result of the close cooperation between the army and the police forces.

“This arrest will send [a] clear message to all criminals in Juba that for as long as they will cause crimes, they will still be caught and apprehended,” he said.

The deputy police chief, however, dismissed claims by sections of the public that cops usually release criminals arrested without due prosecutions, saying that mandate lies in the hand of the judiciary.

“As police, we don’t usually release those apprehended. It is the judge or an attorney who is responsible for the release of criminals”, he said.

Nyoun mainly attributed the high rate of crimes in the country to the current economic woes in the country, but said the police remains vigilant in efforts to maintain peace.

(ST)