A high court in Bor town in South Sudan’s Jonglei State has sentenced over 30 teachers to one month imprisonment and a fine of 1,000 SSP for protesting against unpaid salaries.

Defense lawyer Mayan Maker told Radio Tamazuj that his clients were charged under articles 48, 62 and 79 of the South Sudanese penal code.

He said yesterday. “After three sittings, the court today sentenced each teacher to one month imprisonment and a fine of 1,000 SSP,” said Maker.

He pointed out that the court decided to jail the teachers for allegedly attacking the state minister of education instead of finding a solution to their complaint against the state government.

For their part, several teachers criticized the decision taken by the court, claiming the ruling was influenced by the state governor and his minister of education.