SOUTH SUDAN: TWO CATTLE RAIDERS SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING

October 15, 2020:

A judge in South Sudan's Jonglei state on 13 October 2020 sentenced two men to death for stealing two cows and killing the man who owned the animals.  
Officials say they hope the judge's sentence will deter other cattle raiders in Jonglei, where cattle raiding and child abductions are rampant. 
High court judge John Yiel Aleu sentenced 30-year-old Kuorwel Majok Mayom and 25-year-old Chol Manyiel Jool to death by hanging on 13 October in the state capital, Bor. 
Majok and Manyiel were found guilty of killing John Buol Dut and stealing his cows last December when the cattle were being moved from Bor to Awerial County in Lakes state. 
The judge said the death penalty was appropriate for the crimes committed. 
"The court followed its procedures and today it passed its judgment that the accused Kuorwel Majok and Chol Manyiel have been convicted under Section 305 and 206 penal code act 2008 and they are sentenced to death," he announced in court. 
Michael Khor Dut, a brother to the deceased, welcomed the punishment. 
"This gentleman was killed intentionally. Why? Because of his cattle. He was not a cattle keeper, he was just a university student who was taking his cows to the cattle camp," said Dut. 
Malueth Nyok, an uncle to both convicted men, called the ruling unfair. Nyok argued there was no direct evidence introduced in court that linked his nephews to Dut's murder. 
"There is no evidence that shows that these gentlemen beat the deceased with the stick, no one saw them doing that. We see that cattle get lost and these cattle were lost and that is why they were being kept so that the owner would come and take them," Nyok told VOA's South Sudan in Focus. 
The family will appeal the ruling within the next 14 days, according to Nyok.