The former Secretary General of the SPLM, Pagan Amum Okiech, was arrested at his house at Tong Ping (Juba Nabari) on Tuesday morning together with his bodyguard. The family has confirmed that security officers took him to the security headquarters at Jebel Kujur area. There he was allowed to call his wife, his brother Nyibil Amum Okiech confirmed in a press statement.
The authorities refused up to Tuesday afternoon to acknowledge his arrest, suggesting he was still at large, like the former vice president Riek Machar. Pagan Amum has been under house arrest since 23rd of July 2013, after he openly criticized President Salva Kiir for dissolving his entire cabinet. He publicly stated that “the government had failed to deliver service to the public.”
Pagan Amum’s brother says that “The family, public and international remained silent and patient during the last four and a half months hoping that these matters would be resolved amicably and the SPLMs are blend into a coherent unit and their ability to absorb differences to be their strength.”
The family says that they will hold President Salva responsible for Amum’s safety. “I call upon free people of the Republic of South Sudan who unanimously voted for their freedom from the oppressor, IGAD, African Union, International community and peace loving people, to urge the leaders of RSS to solve their matters peacefully and to strongly condemn what happening in South Sudan,” Nyibil Amum states.