By Lodu William Odiya
The Government prosecutors have yesterday asked the special court to dismiss two of Dr. Riek Machar’s lawyers, arguing they lack valid licenses.
This demand came during the third session where the government prosecutors emphasized that there were some of the defense lawyers’ whose licence were expired.
“We do have objections on the appearance of some advocates with the defense teams who are not licensed and this is a clear violation of the advocate act section 26 sub one” prosecutor said.
The government prosecutors said that a section in a constitution stress that advocate shall renew his or her license at the end of January every year.
The prosecutors further highlighted that according to the section, failure to renew, the license shall be deemed to have been suspended until the advocate renew it.
The defense however, claimed the lawyers were unfairly denied registration, but prosecutors insist licensing was the responsibility of the Bar Association and that the lawyers failed to meet its standards.
“They are very clear in their application and insist that it is the provision of the Transitional constitution of South Sudan 2011 as amended. The decision to licence the advocates are the decision of the Bar council according to the law, not the decision of the court” defend lawyers said.
The court proceedings involving the First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny, together with seven other senior SPLM-IO officials, represented a test for the people of South Sudan a test of resilience, justice, and the struggle for reforms in the face of attempts to silence dissenting voices.