By Adia Jildo
The trial of armed forces in Yei River County accused for murder, rape and other criminal acts is due to begin as 45 soldiers were identified yesterday, the head of civil military relation and public information, Lieutenant Colonel Micheal Machar said on Tuesday.
The advanced team travelled from Juba to Yei to collect the data of the armed men accused for carrying out atrocities against civilians.
Speaking to No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper, Lt. Col. Machar said the advance team that fled to Yei on the 5th May 2022 and has collected a total of 45 cases which included cases of murder, rebellions, theft, brutal fights that led to serious injuries, looting, and damage of military equipment.
“The whole cases are 45 and 55 accused persons are alleged for the crimes committed. The number of murder cases are 10, 5 rape cases, serious injuries are 5, looting and robbery 5 and loss of ammunitions 5, 1 person for destructions of military tank, 5 people for rebellions against government plus 9 people who were transferred to Juba,” he said.
Machar said that 55 people are from both the military who were alleged for committing crimes against civilians as well as civilians who have also committed crimes against the military personnel.
In addition, he stated that the cases have been backlogging due to the absence of a general military court martial which had taken long since the incidence.
“Since 2016 till now, there had been no general court martial but the district court martial had come before,” he said.
However, the military official called on the people of Yei to hurry in reporting atrocities committed by military personnel for justice to be served lawfully.
“The citizens should hurry up to report because the time for the general court martial advance team is running out. The public needs to speed up for their cases to be recognized and recommended,” he said.
He assured the public for the justice to hold those involved in criminal activities accountable, citing a creation of an environment where civilians and military personnel can co-exist peacefully.
The advanced team will take a week to complete their duty ahead of the coming mobile court martial to arrive to Yei for the verdicts to take place.