Letter of Petition for the Release of My Brother, Agou John Wuoi, from Juba Prison
December 20th, 2017
H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit President
Commander-in-Chief of Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA)
Republic of South Sudan Juba, South Sudan
Re: Your Excellency – Letter of Petition to President Kiir for the Release of My Brother, Agou John Wuoi, from Juba Prison
By Elizabeth Yom John Wuoi, Toronto, Canada
December 25, 2017 (SSB) — Kindly please permit me to take this rare opportunity to appreciate you for every effort you have made toward making South Sudan a better country, notwithstanding many challenges. I know you face many daunting difficulties, both at domestic and international levels. It is not easy to build a nation from scratch.
That is why, despite these challenges, those of us who know the difficulty of building a new nation do appreciate your efforts and determination, especially as regards the search for peace and national unity. These efforts will ultimately bring a sense of national political renewal, in tandem with the spirit of our liberation struggle to which you had dedicated the prime of your life. You are, indisputably, an eternal national hero.
The principal intent for writing this petition letter to you is, however, to bring to Your Excellency’s attention the situation facing my brother, Agou John Wuoi. Your recent decision to pardon 9 prisoners who were accused and convicted of an alleged offense of fraud and money laundering from your office, in June of 2016, is truly laudable. In my view, this pardon is part of your efforts towards national political renewal for which I personally, just like many others, applaud you.
Nevertheless, conspicuously absent on the list of the beneficiaries of this presidential pardon was my brother Agou. There was no explanation as to why he was not among the 9 prisoners who received the pardon and yet were co-accused of the same offense. When this process is looked at objectively, a reasonable observer would be led to conclude that my brother has been treated unfairly and unjustly, for he would not have committed the alleged offense alone but for the alleged participation of the other co-convicts. That is, if others who were accused of the same offense can receive the presidential pardon, it stands to reason that my brother should equally have been pardoned. This was not the case.
I am, therefore, calling on your immediate attention to the dire situation my brother is in. My brother Agou is seriously unwell as he suffers from chronic illnesses which led doctors to recommend him for further medical treatment and management which are not possible within the prison environment. Moreover, he is languishing behind bars when he should have been released alongside his co-convicts. A Presidential Pardon is a prerogative of your office. It is a discretion constitutional bestowed upon you as president of our Republic. It is, therefore, not a legal entitlement of any convict. Yet when Your Excellency exercise this discretion, there is every reason to believe that this prerogative should be exercised fairly and even-handedly.
Against this backdrop, I am writing to appeal to Your Excellency on behalf of my brother and family as a whole for the release of my brother who has spent the last three years in miserable jail conditions in Juba. As a family, we were taken aback when the news broke when Your Excellency pardoned everyone else but my brother. That is, everyone who was either complicit or perpetrated the alleged offense was pardoned but not Agou. In fairness, they should all have either been pardoned or none. We humbly believe that there should be no apportioning of blameworthiness in this respect.
Despite our apparent despair, I write this humble petition letter to you with both a heavy heart (because of the excruciating experience my brother is in) and hopefulness that you may find a place in Your Excellency’s heart to accord my brother a similar treatment as that which other prisoners have been accorded. Our family has been going through very tough times. We, however, still believe in your judgment as our hero and President. Leaving my brother behind bars for the same offense that others have been pardoned would appear like a form of selective justice.
Your Excellency, if even bandits who have killed the countless number of innocent people have benefited from your presidential pardon and countless number of corrupt politicians who have embezzled billions of dollars from the national coffers are free, couldn’t your kindly please find a place in your heart to exercise your prerogative with mercy towards my brother? The unjust and unfair treatment that my brother has received can only be remedied at your discretion.
We submit that whatever he was convicted of is inexcusable under the law but is excusable by means of your prerogative of mercy. We believe that he has already paid, and way too much, for this offense. This situation has caused him, his young family (wife and a four-year-old son), parents and siblings considerable mental anguish, confusion and misery. He has been separated from his child, wife and family for far too long.
It is against this background that I submit this petition letter to Your Excellency, having been known for your care and compassion, requesting that you may intervene to forgive my brother on behalf of our family.
Looking forward to hearing from Your Excellency.
Your Sincerely, Elizabeth Yom John Wuoi,
The author, Elizabeth Yom John Wuoi, is a sister to John Agou Wuoi who was sentenced to life in prison, with others, for allegedly using the signature of the president to swindle money from Central Bank. For further information and clarifications, the author can be reached at her email address: yomdiyo2012@gmail.com
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