The Press Secretary in the office of the President has said that Peter Biar Ajak is free to withdraw his asylum and return back to his country, South Sudan.
While addressing the media in response to allegations by Peter Biar Ajak yesterday, Ateny told journalists that all the claims were not true.
Earlier Biar in his media address he accused President Salva Kiir for ordering the National Security to either arrest or kill him in Kenya. He said he was also wanted for exposing corruption and promoting democracy, citing activities that he led defunct South Sudan young leaders forum.
He said that the alleged order to kill or arrest Biar amounts to fabrication, adding that his arrest and subsequent conviction after spending 18 months in the Prison was pardoned by President Kiir and later allowed to leave a country as a free man.
“President Kiir is very vocal against corruption, and he is not in any way, shape or threatened by those in support of his own cause,” Ateny said.
He revealed that Biar’s conviction was highly questionable and his financial records from the bank of South Sudan were indicative of the manipulative and corrupt young man.
“Peter Biar sourced at the Bank of South Sudan extremely scarce U.S dollar and GBPs in hundreds of thousands at preferential exchange rates by submitting requests to governors between 2013 to 2017,” Ateny said.
He added that Biar was not arrested for speaking to the media or speaking to the foreign media or any media is not a crime in South Sudan as freedom of speech is observed.
“It is a content of speech that invokes public disturbance at times,” Ateny said.
He stated that Peter Biar seemed to have had other reasons for fleeing to the United States for the second time.
Ateny said South Sudan will continue to be as it is, and it is a country that people are so generous. Adding that for those who will believe what Peter Biar saying, they don’t know the history about South Sudan.
He blamed Peter’s lawyer for failing to justify that Biar was running away from the Prosecution, “he wouldn’t have been a lawyer for Peter, therefore he must try by all means to confirm that he was running away from harm.
“The truth is that you cannot pursue somebody when you have no case, there is no case between the government of South Sudan and Peter Biar,” Ateny said.
He stressed that Peter can even now choose to withdraw his asylum because he is a South Sudanese and come back.
South Sudan has embarked on implementing the peace agreement and looks forward to a promising transitional and path to the democracy.
Via Juba Monitor
