July 13th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – An opposition official allied to exiled opposition and SPLM-IO leader Dr. Riek Machar said on Saturday that his boss is a political prisoner urging the region to release him in line with the permanent ceasefire agreement that provided for the release of all political prisoners.
Machar has been under forced house confinement in the Sudanese capital Khartoum since June last year, few days before he signed a permanent ceasefire agreement with President Salva Kiir Mayardiit
Before moving to Khartoum, Machar served a two-year jail term in South Africa’s Pretoria after a 2016 decision by the regional community to try to isolate him from South Sudan in hope to subsidize his involvement in the conflict.
However, despite Machar’s two-year absence from South Sudan’s political space, the civil war continued to grow. Fighting spread to many areas previously stable before July 2016.
Speaking to Nyamilepedia on Saturday, Puok Both Baluang, the SPLM-IO Director of Information and Public Relations, said Machar is a political pensioner and as such the region should him in line with the agreement which guarantees the release of political prisoners and detainees.
“Dr. Machar is a political prisoner and the agreement provides for the release of political prisoners and all detainees,” he said.
“Therefore, Machar should be released because there is need to do so in respect of the agreement,” he added.
