Released SPLM-IO’s James Dak unable to travel
November 19, 2018 (JUBA) – The wife of the SPLM-IO leader’s spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, said her husband is unable to travel outside South Sudan to see his family abroad and undergo medical checkup after his release from prison more than two weeks ago.
Mary who lives in exile in a European country with their children, however, said her husband was still trying to replace his lost South Sudanese passport at the migration office in Juba for the last two weeks.
“We understand he has been trying to replace his South Sudanese passport which was taken away from him in November 2016 after his arrest in Nairobi,” she said.
She appealed to the authorities to issue him with the passport, saying his children have been longing to see him after two years in prison.
Dak, who was deported to Juba in November 2016 and handed over to South Sudanese government by the Kenyan authorities, was sentenced to death by hanging in a Juba court over his alleged activities against the government.
South Sudanese President Salva Kiir during the recent peace celebration in Juba on 31 October publicly announced that he pardoned Dak and ordered for his immediate freedom. He was freed on 2 November 2018.
Mary said her husband should as well exercise his freedom of movement.
It is not clear what causes the delay of the issuance of the passport.
During Dak’s release, the interior minister Michael Chiangjiek announced to journalists covering the event that the former spokesperson would travel to Khartoum.
(ST)