Suspended Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chuol told a special court in Juba on Friday that officers from the National Security Service (NSS) subjected him and other detainees to humiliation and degrading treatment in custody, including referring to them as “dogs.”
Kang, the first accused to testify during the court’s 80th session at Freedom Hall, alleged that detainees were verbally abused and treated in a manner intended to strip them of dignity.
“I would like to inform this honorable special court that we have undergone enough humiliation the system could think of, including but not limited to being referred to as ‘dog’,” Kang told the court.
Kang alleged that an NSS officer wrote “7 dogs jibu,” an Arabic phrase meaning “bring the seven dogs,” on judiciary vehicles used to transport the detainees to court.
“We raised this to the former Director General of the National Security Service when he came to visit the prison. He formed a committee and it was confirmed that it was written ‘7 dogs,’ and it is seven of us, with the exception of Dr. Riek Machar Teny, who they always carry in his car,” he said.
Presiding Judge James Alala Deng said the issue should have been formally brought before the court earlier.
“The wording that you are dogs should have been brought to the attention of the court officially so that we can address it,” Deng said.
Kang also rejected allegations made by lead prosecutor Ajo Ony’Ohisa during an earlier court session that his mobile phone had been used as a tool to commit crimes.
“I would like to inform this honorable special court that my phone is not a tool for committing crime but rather a tool for praising peace and stability in this country,” Kang said.
“It is the phone that I used to coordinate the implementation of the agreement that the government and prosecution seek to abrogate.”
He further alleged that NSS officers forcibly seized his phone, obtained its password through intimidation and used it to generate messages.
Kang also challenged digital forensic reports presented against the eight accused persons, claiming they had been prepared by the NSS and prosecutors and merely endorsed by an expert witness.
“The report was either prepared by the National Security Service and prosecution in Juba and then brought to the so called expert to come and rubber stamp their ill intended work, or if at all there was work done by the expert, it was either rejected or infiltrated by the National Security Service and prosecution,” he said.
Judge Deng adjourned the hearing until Monday, May 25, when the court is expected to continue examining Kang.
Kang is one of eight defendants facing charges including treason, crimes against humanity, murder, terrorism and destruction of property over the March 2025 attack on a South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) base in Nasir, Upper Nile State.
The co-defendants are suspended First Vice President Riek Machar, Mam Pal Dhuor, Gatwech Lam Puoch, Lt. Gen. Gabriel Duop Lam, Camilo Gatmai Kel, Mading Yak Riek and Dominic Gatgok Riek.
Machar remains under house arrest, while the other accused are being held by the NSS.
Prosecutors allege that SPLA IO forces allied with the White Army militia killed 257 SSPDF soldiers, including commander David Majur Dak, and destroyed or seized military equipment worth about $58 million during the attack.
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