The Release of South Sudan’s Political Detainees and the Prospects for Peace

After several months in detention, the government of South Sudan has decided to stay the charges of treason that were brought against four prominent South Sudanese politicians in relation to the government’s allegation that they had been part of a plot to overthrow the government of President Salva Kiir Mayardit. A total of eleven politicians were accused and arrested in December 2013. Of these, 7 were released on bail late January, with the remaining 4 set free on April 27th, 2014, a hundred and forty five days since they were arrested in December 2013. Some members of the public have called it a pardon while others have termed it dropping of charges. This is misleading because staying of a case is totally different from either a pardon or dropping of charges. So on what legal basis are they released before the trial could finish? What does it mean to stay a case? The government bases the release of the former detainees on section 25 of South Sudan’s Code of Criminal Procedure Act, 2008 which states: ‘‘The minister (of justice) may after completion of an investigation and at any stage of inquiry and before the finding in any trial, stay the criminal proceedings against any accused on reasonable grounds.’’