A civil society activist was on Monday acquitted of impersonation charges by a High Court in the Jonglei State capital, Bor, following a yearlong trial.
Since earlier last year, Bol Deng Bol, who heads the Jonglei Civil Society Network (JCSN) has been locked in a legal battle with his predecessor, David Garang Goc. The latter accused Deng of impersonating him as the leader of the network, triggering the legal battle.
Deng was elected the head of JCSN by the outfit’s general assembly in January 2022 in an election that was boycotted by and whose results were subsequently rejected by Garang Goc.
The President of the High Court in Jonglei State, John Yel Aleu, in a ruling issued on Monday, dismissed the impersonation charges against Deng cited under section 106 of the Penal Code Act, 2008, and demanded that he be set free.
Justice Yel based his decision on section 226/1 of the Criminal Act 2008.
Reacting to the court verdict, Deng said Monday’s ruling was long overdue.
“What happened was that the JCSN General Assembly conducted elections in the absence of Garang Goc because he refused to attend. So, I was accused of having been elected unduly,” he explained. “Today (Monday), the court ruled that the elections were in order and that there was no substantial evidence to back the accusation and impersonation charges.”
“This judgment is long overdue and the court is a relief and we appreciate that the court recognized the evidence provided,” Deng added.
Efforts to reach Goc for a comment were futile.