A court in Juba has declined to hear an application brought by the lawyer of detained National Security Service officer John Agou. The lawyer says that Agou is being detained illegally without charge.
Radio Tamazuj reported on 4 June that Agou was a National Security Service officer seconded to the presidency and serving in an administrative role. He was informally accused of attempting to steal money from the Office of the President but government prosecutors have not brought any charges against him.
The case involves allegations of forgery of the president’s seal and signature on payment requests.
According to South Sudan’s criminal code, the government may detain a person for 24 hours before bringing him before a prosecutor or judge to face charges, but in Agou’s case he has spent nearly six months in detention without being charged.
The lawyer for John Agou, Kiir Chol, filed a case seeking that he either be brought to court on formal charges or released. He also wants his client transferred from National Security custody to a civil prison.
On Thursday, a high court in Juba presided over by Judge Sumayia Salaha Abdalla declined to hear the case brought by Kiir Chol. Nation Mirror reported that the judge ordered Kiir to direct his application to the Prosecution General.
“The application is transferred to the Prosecution General in the Ministry of Justice for comment on whether there has been legal proceedings commenced against the applicants. So that to enable us to make appropriate action,” the judge reportedly ruled.
According to high-level government sources, the judge had been advised by the chief justice who in turn had been approach by the National Security Service Director-General Akol Koor to ensure that the matter was handled outside the court because it involved other high-ranking officials at the presidency.
The sources were referring to the former Chief Administrator in the Office of the President Mayen Wol and Executive Director Yel Luol, who were removed in late June. Sources told Radio Tamazuj that their removal was linked to the case of John Agou, who had allegedly named them during interrogations, saying he acted on their directives.
Neither of these two high-level administrators have been charged with any crime but they are both also reportedly under detention. Community members are seeking to secure their release.
Kiir Chol, the lawyer of the detained National Security Service officer, said that the ruling of the judge on Thursday was a grave misapplication of the law. As quoted by Nation Mirror, he said that there was no reason for the judge to refer the case back to the Ministry of Justice and vowed to appeal the ruling.
“The honorable trial judge erred in law and certainly we are going to appeal her ruling. I will not rest until my clients are produced in court so that the charges against them are heard and we either apply for bail or they are remanded to a civil prison,” Kiir said.