Warrap state prosecutor issues arrest warrant for ex-governor

KUAJOK – A local prosecutor in South Sudan’s Warrap state has issued an arrest warrant for former governor of the defunct Gogrial state, Victor Atem Atem, according to several senior state government officials.

The warrant, one state government official said, was issued for Atem’s role in the killing of around 35 young men in 2017 after President Salva Kiir Mayardit declared a state of emergency in the state following deadly outbreak of inter-communal violence there.

Later on, Atem ordered for the extrajudicial killing of the 35 young men for allegedly perpetuating the then ongoing inter-communal violence.

No arrest was made and the families, according to another official, appealed to President Salva Kiir Mayardit to help bring Atem to justice after evading state judiciary.

“In 2017, Atem killed 35 men under unclear circumstances. He accused them of perpetuating the inter-communal violence in the state which is not true because the violence continued following their killing,” one state government official told Sudans Post from Kuajok.

“Judges in the state issued arrest Warrant in June and August but no arrest has been done and the president has been asked to help bring Atem to justice,” another senior state government official said from Juba.