Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director of the civil society Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) has condemned the University of Juba administration for dismissing several students, describing it as unprocedural.
On October 31, the institution's Vice-Chancellor Professor John Akec issued a notice dismissing 14 students and suspending 14 others (for either one or two academic years) for allegedly taking part in the protests at the institution in January and October this year respectively.
“…The Dean’s Board resolved that students involved in the events should either be dismissed or suspended depending on the magnitude of their involvement. Those on suspension will upon their return pay for damages incurred by the University,” reads the notice in part.
But speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Monday, Yakani, a prominent activist, condemned the university decision as unprocedural.
“The list of the 28 has some legal irregularities. One student was in prison at the time of protest, two had already graduated and others have not even participated. Also, the University has not formed a committee to listen to the students. The decision lacks commitment to the principle of fair trials. No law was quoted to label what students committed as a crime. Is it the university’s code of conduct or which law?” Yakani said.
The activist, an alumnus of the university, admitted some students may have committed an offense but that the penalties were not proportionate.
“Some students may have committed a mistake. We are not condoning that. The penalties should have been reasonable rather than dismissal and a huge fine of 50,000 SSP for those suspended.
The activist urged the government to intervene, warning that they may be compelled to drag the institution of higher learning to court.
A representative of the dismissed students, Chan Ring, said the dismissal was politically motivated.
“Our dismissal had nothing to do with the protests. You see some of those dismissed had already graduated two years back,” he stressed.
The student representative said they had already initiated a legal suit against the university.
“We are now doing the legal procedure so that we sue the university with our lawyer,” he said.
The Vice-Chancellor Professor John Akec and the dismissed students' lawyer Kiir Chol declined to comment on the matter.