The former press secretary in the office of Vice President Gen. Taban Deng Gai, who resigned his position and became a political activist, was arrested by soldiers from the Tiger Division, which protects President Salva Kiir, early on Sunday evening in Juba.
Agel Ring Machar, who is a former president South Sudan National Youth Union, is also the husband of the immediate former National Health Minister, Yolanda Awel.
Jesus Deng Atem, a friend of Ring and a senior SPLM-IO member and former lawmaker in the National Legislature representing Jonglei State’s Twic East County, told Radio Tamazuj on Monday by phone that Ring has been writing about Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel and the ongoing crisis in the country.
“Vice President Bol sent two friends of Agel Ring, Angok Arthur Akuein and Garang Mabior Salvatore (both sons of former finance ministers) to meet him. We have all been mutual friends since we were young. Ring then called me and said that Angok and Garange seem to have been bought and compromised by Vice President Bol, and I told him to monitor the situation,” he explained. “Ring then returned to his place, but the duo followed him, and Garang pulled out a gun and wanted to shoot him. Ring hit his hand, and Garang reached to retrieve it, and a fight ensued. Ring then ran to the car and wanted to leave, but pickups belonging to the Tiger Division, which protects the president, intercepted and blocked him. So, it seems the events were coordinated.”
“The soldiers picked up Ring and took him away to a detention facility of the Tiger Division opposite the State House (J1), and all this happened after Angok and Garang had a meeting with Vice President Bol,” Deng added.
He said Ring’s wife is travelling but will soon make a statement on the matter.
“Ring has been very vocal about the ongoing clashes in the country, so, to me, his arrest is politically motivated and is being harassed because of his opinion, his wife, and his affiliation with some of his friends in the opposition,” Deng stated.
He asked the government to release not only Agel Ring, but everybody that is under house arrest, including First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, the petroleum minister, and other political detainees.
“As I speak to you, I am not in Juba, I am seeking refuge somewhere in my village. If I was there, I would have been arrested,” Deng said. “From 6:09 p.m. on Sunday, I never received another call from Agel and I think his phones have been taken I could not access him.”