National Prison Service of South Sudan (NPS) officials in Abyei Administrative Area on Monday said that a National Non-governmental Organization, Luluk Community Agency for Development (L.CAD), with financial support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), paid fines for the release of 17 inmates in Abyei Main Prison.
Wal Mangeth, the deputy director of the prison service in Abyei told Radio Tamazuj Monday that the 17 inmates with small monetary fines were released after Gen. Atem Marol, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) visited the prison.
“The IGP came and assessed the prison and said there was a need to release people with small fines like SSP 30,000, 40,000, and 50,000. So, the L.CAD organization came in and paid money and that is why we released 17 inmates after their fines were paid in the courts,” he said. “The number of prisoners in Abyei is 77, some of them are awaiting trial. There are four female inmates all charged with murder cases which is a capital offence.”
Mangeth described the conditions in Abyei Prison as favorable because they provide education and other skills.
“The prison environment is conducive because we have days for cleanliness and other days for giving inmates lessons,” he revealed. “We teach inmates and there are two teachers from the area’s ministry of education that come and provide educational services in Abyei Main Prison.”
For his part, Lual Malueth Lual, the L.CAD peacebuilding and access to justice officer, confirmed the release of the 17 inmates and advised them to abandon criminal activities.
“Today (Monday), we are celebrating the release of 17 inmates from Abyei Prison. They were convicted for different like theft, fighting, and other petty crimes but they overstayed in prison because they cannot afford to pay petty fines,” he explained. “We decided to pay their fines and have them released so that they meet their families. We paid a total amount of SSP 850,000 and this funding is from UNDP under the Access to Justice Project and is implemented by the L.CAD organization.”
Malueth highlighted that the freed prisoners were not able to pay fees for legal representation in court, committed petty crimes due to economic hardships, and lacked livelihood skills.
“There is a justice center in Abyei which was established last year with support from UNDP and it provides psychosocial support, counseling, and healing and many speakers advised the freed inmates not to repeat the same mistakes that they were convicted for,” he added.
Some of the released inmates expressed joy at being freed and said they were happy to reunite with their families and vowed to desist from committing crimes.
Chol Akuei, one of the freed prisoners, said he had not seen his family members for two months.
“I am very happy and I was surprised to get released. I appreciate the L.CAD organization for paying our fines because we would have stayed in prison. I thank God for putting this good idea into the hearts of the people who work for the organization to pay for our release. I was convicted for SSP 50,000 because I fought with somebody,” he stated. “The conditions were bad, there was little food and the prison was very hot. Sometimes the prison officers took us out to work for other people because we spent months here.”
“Those with bigger crimes are retained in the prison and teachers come and teach us and we were told that there is another center for training,” Akuei added.
Another freed prisoner, Machok Nyiec, also said he was convicted for fighting and thanked the organization for getting them released.
“The 17 of us who have been released will go to our homes and we are very happy with the L.CAD organization which released us,” he stated. “We cannot repeat the crimes but instead report to police if somebody wrongs us. The conditions in prison are bad, there is heat and also skin diseases, the situation is bad and there is inadequate food. I will share our experiences with family and friends.”