General Mach Paul was the head of the South Sudanese military intelligence unit when the Government arrested many politicians accused of a coup in Juba. The arrest came as results the fighting that occurred within the presidential guards and later escalated to the worse violence that killed many.
In his first interview with Ajak Deng Chiengkou on SBS Dinka Radio which will be available online on Friday and aired on Saturday. General Mach talked about what he said as head of the military intelligence unit and key witness on the case against the politicians who were accused to have orchestrated the alleged coup on 15/12/2013 talk on what happened in Juba in 2013.
“As a trained soldier with more experiences or the history of the army that I studied and as a head of the military intelligence, we have arrested no one. There is no a person that we have arrested, interrogated in order to determine what happened. Those who were arrested in Juba and the reasons for their arrest are only known to those who arrested them and that can be best answered by them. If I were to be the one who arrested them then I would have told you the investigation involved, and provide the steps or procedures taken.”
General Mach, who was supposed to have the intelligence about who did what? In court, Mach gave no evidence about the involvement of the accused. Mach was summoned by the court with other senior’s officials to stand as State’s witness to the case.
Mach’s testimony was celebrated by many South Sudanese but those in Government saw it as a betrayal. The prosecuting authority gave no credible evidence to prove that there was a coup but seeing Mach a senior member of the army not following the narrative created was a big blow to those who relied on his evidence. Before the court could announce the ruling on the G4’s case, South Sudanese Ministry of Justice went ahead by announcing their decision to stay the case. The four members of Oyay, Pagan, Lol and Dr. Majak were released but Mach was relieved soon from his jobs after that.
“In the military, a coup is a capital offence and it can’t decide today and do it the following morning? It takes time too to investigate in order to get the right evidence that you can give if it was to be required. As a person, I always talk about what I know and that what I said because I can’t talk about what I don’t know. In some days, any lie is a lie and there is time for truth. The truth will always win and that what I said.”
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