A court in Wau town of Western Bahr el Ghazal State on Monday sentenced 31 young men and women to two months in prison and a fine of 20,000 South Sudanese Pounds each for public disturbance. 

The youths, among them 21 teenage girls, were arrested by the police on Sunday night while trying to break into the state assembly premises, an accusation they denied.  

The state deputy police commissioner Major General James Simon told Radio Tamazuj that those who fail to clear their fines in two months will have their jail term extended by two more months.

“They were convicted in front of the judge in the court; two months in jail and a fine of 20,000 SSP each. They will be paying this amount within two months and if each of them failed to pay 20,000, this person will be given two more months in jail,” Simon said. 

Simon said the youths are part of a gang known as 'niggers' who have been terrorizing the people of Wau town. He also said they were arrested while trying to open the gates to the state assembly. 

For his part, Wau town Mayor Saed Paulino Uku urged parents to take their parental roles seriously by ensuring they know the whereabouts of their teenage children. 

“Let us be responsible, it is not true that your girl or your son at the age of 15 years old takes permission from you to go out. I know some behave like thieves, they move out at night when their parents are sleeping,” said Uku. “You have to know that your child is sleeping and lock the door. Some children leave their homes while their parents are there and I know some girls inform their mothers about going to clubs but what benefits are they bringing to the family.” 

However, Western Bahr el Ghazal state coordinator for the Community Empowerment for Progress (CEPO), Stephen Robo Musa said may not have been given enough time to defend themselves before the law.

“It was surprising when we got the information in a press release by Wau town mayor that there are some youths arrested while trying to break into the government premises. We said it may not be new because there is a group of youth outside that may commit a crime anytime but only our fear was a due process of which they were convicted,” said Musa. “There should be a due legal process followed to enable the suspects to defend themselves before the law because it's not clear that these 31 youths were also responsible for touching the assembly main gate,” he said.

Last month, over 300 youth, mentored by CEPO denounced violence and gang-related activities and became involved in the cleaning of roads initiative by the International Organization for Migration and CEPO in Wau.