Trials for suspects in Torit State Prison take longer than expected because there is only one judge in the whole state, a minister said.
Torit state minister for local government Ukidimoi Ogura who was speaking at a rule of law forum at Torit Resource Centre on Thursday said those remanded wait longer before they are presented before a court of law for trial.
“For the remand normally we have the police, public prosecutor attorney who doesn’t allow these people to stay in remand without renewing their remand, the same with the juvenile. And because we only have one judge in the state, definitely they cannot be released until they go through the process of trial,” he said.
But a local civil society organization, Support Peace Initiative Development Organization (SPIDO) Legal Aid Officer in Torit, Jacob Atari Albano said the prison is holding more than 10 people in prolonged remand.
He also said during a visit to the prison, they found prisoners who have fully served their terms to completion but are still in prison while calling for a thorough follow-up of cases by both the police and prison authorities.
“We have got about 11 juvenile cases who are being over-remanded. They stayed in remand for almost 8 months, and in fact, that one lawfully is not right. Then also we got some of the people who are forgotten. Some of the prisoners who have been tried and their duration is finished but they are supposed to be released, so nobody is following up their cases,” Attari added.
According to the 2011 transitional constitution of South Sudan under the Bill of Rights Section 19(5), “Every accused person shall be entitled to be tried in his or her presence in any criminal trial without undue delay.”