Maulana Mayen Wol was acquitted by South Sudan Supreme Court
By Amb. Gordon Buay
I have seen some quarters criticizing the appointment of Maulana Mayen Wol as the undersecretary of the Ministry of Petroleum on the basis of the charges brought against him in 2015. These quarters have expressed intellectual dishonesty by making irrational arguments which were dismissed by South Sudan Supreme Court in November 2017.
In a civilized world, every accused is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. When Maulana Mayen Wol was accused by the government of South Sudan in 2015, he was taken to the court to determine whether the accusations against him were true. In November 2017, the Supreme Court of South Sudan, the highest Court in the land, acquitted Maulana Mayen Wol and found him innocent.
The decision of South Sudan Supreme Court that declared Maulana Mayen innocent was written by Deputy Chief Justice, Maulana Gatwec Lul, a very respectful Nuer judge who has integrity, dignity and the adherence to the rule of law.
For those who always tribalize issues in South Sudan, I want to advise you that the judgment of South Sudan Supreme Court that found Molana Mayen Wol innocent was authored by a Nuer judge, not a Dinka. Therefore, any accusation against the decision of the Supreme Court on the basis of tribalism is a baloney.
Coming back to the question of why Maulana Mayen Wol was appointed by the President as an undersecretary, the answer is that any South Sudanese, who has been found innocent by the Supreme Court of South Sudan, has a right to be appointed in any capacity. The question of embezzlement of public funds was already settled by South Sudan Supreme Court and Maulana Mayen Wol was found innocent last year.
Maulana Mayen Wol should be appreciated by the people of South Sudan because when the Supreme Court of South Sudan found him innocent last year, he could have sued South Sudan government for a wrongful prosecution that tarnished his reputation. Based on the judgment of South Sudan Supreme Court, Maulana Mayen Wol could win a civil suit against the Government worth of millions of dollars for wrongful prosecution.
When he was released, Maulana Mayen Wol refused to sue the Government and stayed in his house as a normal citizen. His appointment this week as undersecretary is something appreciable and commendable because a man like him who was mistreated by the state for two years deserved such a position.
Those quarters in the media who are spreading lies about Maulana Mayen Wol should be advised that he was found innocent by the South Sudan Supreme Court in a unanimous judgement authored by a Nuer judge. The Court was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he was innocent man falsely accused by the government.
Therefore, all these nonsense in the media about Maulana Mayen Wol should stop and people should refer to the decision of South Sudan Supreme Court of November 2017.
The author is the South Sudanese chargé d’affairs to Washington