JUBA—Aweil East community leader in Juba has urged President Salva Kiir Mayardit to release Dr. Riek Machar and all other political detainees before South Sudan’s planned December 22 elections, saying their freedom is essential for national reconciliation and participation in the electoral process.
Ambassador Garang Deng Aguer, who also recently faced reports of an imminent arrest, made the appeal on Thursday in Juba during a gathering organized by Aweil East community members and other well-wishers to celebrate the release of three politicians: Kom Kom Geng, Ayii Ayii Akol, and Achan Agoth Akiech.
Aguer called on the president to extend forgiveness to political figures who remain in detention and those living outside the country. He said reconciliation requires leaders to move beyond past grievances.
“Nobody is holy, so forgiveness is paramount, and it is what the scriptures teach us to adopt, embrace, and implement it by doing it,” Aguer told the gathering.
Members of parliament Kom Kom Geng and Ayii Ayii Akol, who represent Abiem East Constituency No. 3, were arrested earlier this year. They were allegedly accused of forging a document bearing the president’s name. They are now set free.
Aguer urged Kiir to extend the same gesture to other prominent political figures who remain in detention, including Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel and former First Vice President Riek Machar Teny.
“The leadership of this country must forgive those who are in detention, including Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel and Riek Machar Teny. Forgive and release them,” he said.
He also questioned how political leaders would campaign for the December elections while some prominent figures and their relatives remain behind bars.
“You talk of going for a campaign for the impending elections. What are you going to tell the electorates whose sons are behind bars in Juba? If we are genuine enough, release those detainees,” he stated.
Akol, one of the detainees, thanked President Kiir for responding to appeals from people who had advocated for the release of the three politicians.
However, he called on the president to ensure that others who remain in detention are also freed, saying their release would allow them to participate in national affairs, including the forthcoming elections.
“I am glad that we are all released finally through the efforts of people who know us; they are too numerous to mention, their efforts to make us see our freedom,” he said. “Now we are out; my appeal is to the President again to ensure that the rest still being detained are given liberty as well so that they participate in the national affairs, such as elections.”
Akol also alleged that some officials could be undermining the president’s efforts to secure the release of detainees, despite his apparent willingness to forgive them.
He alleged that certain individuals may be exercising influence over national affairs without the president’s knowledge, preventing decisions on amnesty and release from being fully implemented.
Machar was arrested in March 2025 alongside several senior members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) following an attack on an army garrison in Nasir, Upper Nile State.
He is standing trial alongside seven co-accused before a special court over their alleged roles in the Nasir violence.