The defense team for some of the 16 people accused of links to a corruption case at the South Sudanese presidency who were sentenced to life in prison two weeks ago on Monday submitted a petition to the court of appeal.

The lawyers said in the petition that the case was politically motivated against the accused persons and that the verdict is a risk to the future of the judiciary.

They criticized the judge for sentencing all the 16 accused to life in prison, saying he supposed to sentence each with a different judgment.

They also pointed that the national security committee which was formed to oversee the case had committed procedural mistakes by storming the houses of the accused persons.

According to the petition, the accused persons since their arrest were denied meeting their defense lawyers until they were presented to the court. They also said that there were a lot of irregularities during the court sessions.

Defense lawyer Kur Lual said in statement to the press that the life in prison sentence is illegal and out of the values of justice in the world.