The former governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Kuel Aguer Kuel who has been in detention for more than a year will appear before a special court for the second hearing on Friday in Juba.
Kuel, appeared before judges on Monday for the first hearing, following months of detention for allegedly planning to illegally overthrow the government.
During Monday’s hearing, both the prosecution and the defense teams presented their submissions before the court before the hearing was adjourned.
Kuel’s defense lawyer Kiir Chol speaking to Radio Tamazuj in an exclusive interview said the main point of contention is the prolonged detention of his client.
“The case was adjourned to 7th October whereby the defense would be able to cross-examine the police officer who presented a lot of documents,” Chol said.
He revealed that his client is facing eight charges, but did not elaborate.
“I won’t comment more because the matter is pending, when a case is pending before a court you don’t need to go into details,” Kiir said.
“Having the accused in detention for almost more than a year would be an issue at the trial. Our constitution is clear that you need to be detained for 24 hours then from there if the investigation is not finished within that period the Public Prosecution Attorney has to secure or obtain a sanction from a court of law. In the case of Kuel it has been an issue why he remained in prison for more than one year,” he added.
Kuel Aguer was arrested in July 2021 after signing the declaration by the People’s Coalition for Civil Action (PCCA) calling for a change in government in South Sudan by way of a popular uprising.