The police have said dropped nominated Morobo woman member of parliament, Animu Afekuru Risasi, is being held by their directorate of immigration on charges of illegally holding a South Sudanese nationality identity card and a diplomatic passport.
The deputy spokesperson of the South Sudan National Police Service (SSNPS), Brigadier General James Dak Karlo, told Radio Tamazuj Wednesday that they were the ones holding Afekuru and not the National Security Service as rumored.
“The lady is in the custody of immigration and passports, not in the National Security. She is going to be handed over to the Ugandan government,” Gen. Dak said. “She is detained because they are taking her statement. She was found in possession of illegal South Sudanese nationality and a diplomatic passport. She was even dropped as a member of parliament because it was discovered that she was not a South Sudanese national. Her membership was scrapped off.”
He added: “The new development is that she was found with a South Sudanese national identity card because is a non-South Sudanese and then diplomatic passports are issued to the diplomatic corps through the ministries of interior and foreign affairs. So she will have to answer how she obtained them.”
On Afekuru not being presented in court if she has a case to answer, Gen. Dak admitted that it was indeed an error but said the delay was because the South Sudan government was trying to coordinate with their Ugandan counterparts.
Phillip Anyang, an advocate of the High Court in Juba who is representing Afekuru said he met his client this morning in the presence of the director-general of immigration.
“This morning I managed to see Animu (Afekuru) in front of the director-general of immigration. I had a lengthy chat with her on when, why, and how she was picked,” Advocate Anyang explained. “She told me that she was picked on 22 December at Phenicia by National Security Service and she was taken to the central division facility and later transferred to immigration where she was kept for 3 days.”
He said his client was being escorted to Nimule for unknown reasons because there was no instrument of arrest or document or order provided.
“She was taken to Nimule where she was kept the whole night and in the morning the South Sudan security operatives linked up with the police in Nimule and tried to hand over to the Ugandan authorities,” Anyang narrated. “The Ugandans refused to take those directives and said Animu is a South Sudanese and all the records in their system and the South Sudan system showed as such.”
He added: “Secondly, there was no clear documentation showing that she was being deported and reasons for deportation. Nothing was done legally.” So, Animu was brought back on 27 December and she is undergoing medication now. She is being held on no clear grounds.”
Anyang said that the immigration director-general averred that she is allegedly being held because she is being called a Ugandan.
“We have asked if there is any case opened against her, but no such thing has come up. The director-general confirmed to me that they are in contact with the ministry of foreign affairs and the government of Uganda,” Anyang said. “I asked if she can be visited by family and if she can be released on bail and who is the complainant against her. I presented all the documents to the immigration director-general this morning so I will follow up this afternoon and see if they will grant her bail.”
Advocate Anyang revealed that there is a pending case in court by his client against the immigration department to stop harassing her which was filed in 2019 and the court summoned the immigration department but they did not show up.
“We also informed the justice ministry to notify the immigration that there is a case against them but none of them showed up. The case has been pending in court awaiting disposal,” Anyang said. “This issue of Animu has been coming up often. We have asked the government that whoever has a case against her and alleges that she is a foreigner, a Ugandan, come forward and tell us and prove it in the courts of law and we close the matter. No one is coming forward or taking charge of the matter and it is becoming political. We do not know who is responsible for all this mess.”
He asked the government to immediately release his client and take her to court if there is a case against her.
“Animu’s or any other citizens’ rights should not be abused but protected. The constitution is very clear about rights so there is no reason to keep her without due process of the law. It is the eighth day she is in detention today,” Anyang said.