Photo Courtesy| UN

In the ongoing mobile court sessions in Leer coming to an end this Thursday, more than half of the criminal cases are yet to be tried due to a lack of evidence and witnesses.

Established in April, the court was set up to handle 101 criminal cases, including those involving murder, rape, forced and child marriage.

It has so far resolved 17 cases in the past week, with 23 cases pending judgment before its session concludes on Thursday this week.

According to Captain John Malieth Kuol, spokesperson of the Unity State Police, the court has convicted 20 out of 43 referred criminal cases so far.

Among the cases ruled, 8 murder cases resulted in sentences ranging from 6 to 10 years with  6 convicted rape cases.

Other cases involve attempted murder, aggravated assault, and theft

” We have referred 43 criminal cases to court, and only 20 cases have been convicted. Last week, the court ruled on 17 cases. We have murder and rape cases, and 8 murder cases have been sentenced for 6 to 10 years. 6 rape cases have been sentenced, and there are cases of attempted murder, aggravated assault, and theft, said Captain Malieth.

The mobile court will end its session on the 8^th of May.

According to the police spokesperson, 58 cases have not been investigated due to the absence of the accused and a lack of evidence and witnesses.

“The number of cases under investigation is 58, and the reason is that they are still under investigation. There are cases we are waiting for witnesses to obtain more information and evidence.

The establishment of the court is to address the backlog of cases in Unity State, where the authorities were forced to resolve disputes outside the legal system due to the absence of Judges.