Members of the SPLM party led by President Salva Kiir were released from detention in Panyijiar County of Unity state on Friday last week.
The five men were reportedly arrested together with about 30 others on 23rd October 2022 without clear reasons, according to SPLM leadership in the county.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Monday from Panyijiar county, the education director William Nyak Buom Gatluak, who was also detained, said they were released last Friday.
“On 23 October, we were arrested by the county commissioner of Panyijiar and fortunately we were released on Friday 29th October and I am among those released,” said Nyak.
He said, “We are five members of SPLM IG. We were detained in unknown locations in Panyijiar County. We are the five people and we have been released officially.”
Nyak said the SPLM secretary general in the county Mathiang Degay, the chairperson of the SPLM youth league Mading Manychuol Gatluok, and three others were also released.
He further accused the county commissioner of not implementing the peace agreement in the area saying, “The commissioner is not for peace, he is not giving other parties a space to do their activities in the county.”
He called on parties to revitalized agreement to discuss any pending issues through dialogue.
SPLM party officials in Unity state told Radio Tamazuj that at least 34 SPLM members were arrested, including the party interim chairperson in Panyijiar, were arrested and some were later released.
They said the commissioner ordered the arrest of their members when they were distributing party T-shirts and he confiscated them.
But, the SPLM-IO officials there disputed the calims saying they are merely aleegations and that the commissioner was only advising the SPLM members to avoid giving party T-shirts to schoolchildren.
Last month, the interim SPLM IG chairman Peter Gatkoi Beliew in Panyijiar County accused the SPLM-IO-appointed commissioner of Panyijiar of ordering the arrest of the SPLM members in the area.