A former government official in South Sudan’s Eastern Lakes State has urged the relevant authorities to allow the families of the detained state legislators to visit them in detention.

Marial Amuom, head of state parliamentary committee for information, Ater Jeremiah Telar and Madeu Angong Nek were arrested on 15 August by security personnel for unclear reasons. The three MPs are being detained secretly in Nyang County.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Thursday, former Yirol Centre commissioner Gabriel Bol urged national security officials to relocate the detained MPs to Yirol town so their families could visit them in detention.

“Those MPs were not appointed by the government. The three MPs are representatives of their communities and if they had committed any crime that threatens state security, then consultations should have been carried out so that their communities can intervene,” Bol said.

He called on the relevant authorities in Eastern Lakes State to release the detained lawmakers or take them to court.

The governor of Eastern Lakes state Bor Wutchok Bor had confirmed that the arrested legislators were in good health conditions and that investigations by national security officers were underway.