The dropped nominated Morobo woman Member of Parliament, Animu Afekuru Risasi, was last Thursday released on a cash bond of USD 2,500 from the Juba Main Prison, her lawyer said.
Afekuru was arrested last December by the interior ministry’s directorate of immigration on charges of illegally holding a South Sudanese nationality identity card and a diplomatic passport.
Her lawyer, Phillip Anyang, told Radio Tamazuj Monday that she was released on a cash bond due to illness pending a court hearing.
“She was released on bail last week pending investigation and the case going to court. She is out now although she is still sick and undergoing medical treatment,” Lawyer Anyang said. “She was released last week on Thursday on a cash bond of USD 2,500, the security for her release.”
“She is at the hospital and is supposed to undergo an operation but the doctors have not advised yet so she is waiting for the doctor’s directive after being assessed,” he added.
Anyang challenged anybody doubting Afekuru’s South Sudanese nationality to go and challenge it in court.
”We look forward to having this case resolved once and for all. It has been dragging on for five years now,” Anyang charged. “Animu remains a south Sudanese and whoever disputes that, we meet in court.”
After her arrest, the deputy spokesperson of the South Sudan National Police Service (SSNPS), Brigadier General James Dak Karlo, said Afekuru was detained for holding South Sudanese nationality illegally.
“The new development is that she was found with a South Sudanese nationality identity card because is a non-South Sudanese and then diplomatic passports are issued to the diplomatic corps through the ministries of interior and foreign affairs. So she will have to answer how she obtained them,” Brig. Dak said at the time.