South Sudan army chief threatening military judges to announce anti-Buay verdict

July 5th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s army chief, General Gabriel Jok Riak is reportedly threatening a military court in Juba to announce a verdict that would see detained military officer, General Buay Rolnyang, dismissed and demote from his senior military rank.

Last week, a source at Bilpam told the Nyamilepedia that Buay had been sentenced to one year in prison which he already served and would be stripped of his rank of Major General and demoted to private and then dismissed from the army.

The verdict, the source told the Nyamilepedia at the time, was then forwarded to the president who is also the Commander in Chief of the armed forces for approval.

However, in a statement to the Nyamilepedia on Friday,  a source at Bilpam said a legal administration officer at the office of the president has sent back the verdict to the court after a request by the army chief who do not want the verdict to be made known to the president who may dismiss the it.

He said General Jok and the presidential legal officer were the one who initiated the verdict under the influence of the Presidential Advisor on Security, Tutkew Gatluak and they were threatening the judges to pass the verdict without the knowledge of the preside but the source said the judge refused to do so and quarrelling is ongoing in Bilpam.

“They are the one who made the verdict under the influence of Hon. Tut Kew Manime and some Bul-Nuer politicians. They want to strip Gen. Buay’s ranks from Major General to private and dismss him from the army. Now they want the GCM judge to pass that blindly but the judge wants Mr. President to approve it first for his own safety,” the source said.

“So Jok Riak is trying to misuse his powers to reinforce the verdicts.They think if they give the documents to the C-in-C, the president may release Gen. Buay without stripping off his ranks,” he added.