Revive South Sudan confirms Peter Biar’s arrest in U.S

Revive South Sudan Party (RSSP) on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of its leader Peter Biar Ajak in the United States over attempting to smuggle weapons to overthrow the government in Juba.
Activist Peter Biar Ajak (centre) looks on during his first appearance before the judiciary headquarters in Juba, South Sudan on March 21, 2019. PHOTO| AFP

By Awan Achiek

 Revive South Sudan Party (RSSP) on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of its leader Peter Biar Ajak in the United States over attempting to smuggle weapons to overthrow the government in Juba.

It said in a statement that Biar has been put under temporary arrest in Arizona, after unconfirmed allegations that he attempted to smuggle weapons worth $4 million to South Sudan.

“The leadership of Revive South Sudan Party would like to inform its members as well as the general public that we have just received confirmed reports that our comrade, Dr. Peter Biar Ajak, has been put under temporary arrest after unconfirmed allegations leveled against him,” it said.

“We would like the public to know that this is simply an administrative detention to finalize the process of investigation pending judicial proceedings, but our comrade will be released soon to defend himself in front of a competent court of law,” it disclosed.

It emphasized that the allegations against Biar remain unsubstantiated until proven guilty in a court of law.

On July 28, 2018, National Security Service (NSS) officials arrested Biar at the Juba International Airport, where he was scheduled to fly to the town of Awiel for Martyrs’ Day celebrations organized by the Red Army Foundation. He was released from prison on January 4, 2020 and later on went to exile in the U.S.

The United States Department of Justice announced Biar’s arrest on Tuesday, alongside Abraham Chol Keech, the former Secretary-General of Jonglei State Chamber of Commerce.

The duo face charges of alleged conspiracy to export illicit arms to South Sudan, which is under a United Nations arms embargo. They could be imprisoned for 20 years if found guilty.

“As alleged, the defendants sought to unlawfully smuggle heavy weapons and ammunition from the United States into South Sudan – a country that is subject to a U.N arms embargo due to the violence between armed groups, which has killed and displaced thousands,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division said in a statement.

“Sanctions and export controls help ensure that American weapons are not used internationally to destabilize other sovereign nations,” said Gary Restaino, U.S. attorney for Arizona.

Those weapons included automatic rifles, grenade launchers, Stinger missile systems, hand grenades, sniper rifles, ammunition, and other export-controlled items from the United States to South Sudan.

Exporting weapons of any type to South Sudan is illegal under the UN Security Council arms embargo as well as two laws in the US — the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA).

The UN Security Council imposed arms embargo on South Sudan in 2018 to slow down a civil war that had erupted in 2016. It was recently extended to May this year.

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