An appeals court in Khartoum Bahri issued arrest warrants for the two South Sudanese pastors previously acquitted of espionage and other charges, their lawyer said.
Attorney Ahmed al Sibeir told Radio Tamazuj that the court intends to hear new evidence against his two clients when a new trial begins on the same charges which were dropped earlier this year due to lack of evidence.
Ahmed criticized the court’s procedures, saying the court was supposed to summon the defense team or the accused before issuing any arrest warrant.
“I think the warrant of arrest is not important if they don’t summon us as the defense lawyers to appear before the court,” he said. “For our part, we will follow our legal procedures, we will discuss those things in the high court.”
Pastors Yat Michael and Peter Yein both reportedly returned to South Sudan following their release after eight months in jail.
Yat Michael was arrested in December 2014 after preaching in a church in Khartoum North. Peter was arrested in January this year after delivering a letter to the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowment inquiring about his colleague’s whereabouts.