Twic court suspends prosecution of accused returnees

The traditional court in Twic County, Warrap State, has suspended prosecution of crime suspects who fled the fighting in the Sudan.

Some of the returnees, according to court files, committed crimes in the county before they escaped to the neighboring country. This group comprises of cattle thieves.

The other group is said to include men and women accused of adultery while they were in the Sudan, where they had traveled to for medication purposes. After getting well, they got involved in love affairs and chose to stay on.

With the outbreak of the conflict in Khartoum in April, most South Sudanese citizens returned home, prompting prosecutions – with some “issued summons immediately before they even meet their families”.

But Pasquale Kuol Majok, court executive director, says the plaintiffs should give the returnees two more months to allow them to settle and address their dire humanitarian situation first before they they are arraigned.

“Nobody should open cases against the returnees until after two months, not because we are defending them, but to let them settle first,” Kuol told Mayardit FM.

The cases opened against returnees in the B Court are mostly adultery, theft, and unpaid bride price.

In response, a civil society activist in the county, John Manut, welcomed the court decision, but cautioned the returnees that this should not give them a room to continue to commit more crimes.

Manut appealed to the court to “respect” the two months it has given the suspects to settle.