Symbol of Justice.

The former commissioner of Rumbek East County of the defunct Western Lakes State has sued an SSPDF commander for detaining him over freedom of expression.

James Dhieu Mading had earlier spoken to Eye Radio about illegal check points in the area.

Two weeks ago, soldiers stopped him and his family at Aduel Payam while traveling in a vehicle from Juba to Rumbek.

They kept him in an army cell for three days for refusing to pay illegal checkpoint fees.

According to Mading, SSPDF Commander Brigadier Jima Rehan of Division Six had him jailed him for three days after speaking to Eye Radio about the matter.

“The soldiers asked for money; and Jima arrested me because of speaking to Eye Radio about the checkpoints,” Mading said.

“I opened a court case [in Rumbek] against Brigadier Jima Rehan so that Jima can explain the order to arrest me.”

A right enshrined in the constitution of South Sudan, Freedom of expression means the ability of an individual or group of individuals to express their beliefs, thoughts, ideas, and emotions about different issues free from government censorship.

In 2018, President Salva Kiir ordered the closure of all illegal checkpoints, but the directive largely remained unimplemented in many parts of the country.

Reacting to the matter, human rights advocate Reech Malual says it is against the law to detain any person without being accorded fair trial.

“This is against the law and even against the President of the Republic of South Sudan,” Malual stated.

“Lakes State government should not be rough in treating or mistreating its own citizens,” he continued.

“Most of the cases that have been reported come from Lakes State including journalists being detained for protesting in support of the 32 states. It is not happening anywhere but in Lakes State.

In 2019, a journalist was detained for not covering a functioned presided over a governor.

And just in February 2020, journalists were arrested after they were found working at their radio station for failing to take part in a pro-32 protests.