{"id":44807,"date":"2026-05-21T14:28:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T12:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=44807"},"modified":"2026-05-21T14:28:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T12:28:56","slug":"puot-denies-buying-weapons-for-spla-io-soldiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/puot-denies-buying-weapons-for-spla-io-soldiers\/","title":{"rendered":"Puot denies buying weapons for SPLA-IO soldiers"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Yiep Joseph<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Suspended Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol denied accusations that he purchased weapons and ammunition for the Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Army-In Opposition and the White Army militia.<\/p>\n

During the 79 sessions on Wednesday, Puot told the court that key digital evidence presented against him had been fabricated by prosecutors and the prosecution\u2019s expert witness.<\/p>\n

Continuing his defence before the special court, Puot rejected allegations that he communicated with SPLA-IO commanders to facilitate the purchase of ammunition linked to the March 2025 fighting in Nasir County, Upper Nile State.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn page 13 of my individual report, paragraphs 271 to 281, it is alleged that Brigadier General Timothy Bilie Nyang contacted me on WhatsApp, informing me of his discussion with Brigadier General Hokdor Chuol Diet about the purchase of ammunition,” he narrated<\/p>\n

\u201cYour Lordships, I neither read the message nor responded to it. I only saw that message here in this honourable court for the first time,\u201d Puot said.<\/p>\n

The prosecution alleges that forces linked to the SPLA-IO and the White Army attacked a South Sudan People\u2019s Defence Forces garrison in Nasir, killing 257 soldiers, including commander David Majur Dak, and destroying or seizing military equipment valued at about $58 million.<\/p>\n

Addressing the court, Puot specifically dismissed allegations contained in paragraphs 271 to 281 of his forensic report, where prosecutors claimed that Brigadier General Timothy Bilie Nyang informed him through WhatsApp about discussions with Brigadier General Hokdor Chuol Dayat regarding the purchase of ammunition.<\/p>\n

The suspended minister repeatedly challenged the authenticity of the prosecution\u2019s digital evidence, arguing that several WhatsApp conversations, videos, images, and contacts allegedly extracted from his phone were either manipulated or inserted during the forensic process.<\/p>\n

He told the court that many of the materials presented as evidence were completely unfamiliar to him and had no direct connection to the Nasir violence.<\/p>\n

Puot also denied allegations that he financed armed youth groups involved in the fighting. Referring to an alleged WhatsApp conversation with a man identified as Dukan June D., Chol rejected claims that he had transferred money connected to the conflict.<\/p>\n

However, Chol dismissed the allegation, saying he was unaware of the conversation and insisting there was no proof that any money had been sent.<\/p>\n

He reminded the court that during earlier cross-examination, the prosecution\u2019s expert witness admitted there was no documentary evidence confirming any transfer of funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed, I did not send money to Dukan,\u201d Puot told the court.<\/p>\n

The former minister further disputed videos presented by the prosecution, allegedly linking him to fundraising activities for armed youth in Nasir.<\/p>\n

One of the videos featured a man identified as Ter Chuol Gatkuoth calling on the Nuer community worldwide to send money through him.<\/p>\n

Pout argued that prosecutors wrongly concluded that the message was intended specifically for him.<\/p>\n

According to him, the video had been publicly shared on Facebook and therefore could not reasonably be interpreted as a private communication directed solely at him.<\/p>\n

A significant portion of his testimony focused on alleged WhatsApp conversations between himself and Mam Pal Dhuor.<\/p>\n

After hours of presentations, the session was adjourned until Friday, May 22, 2026, when Chol is expected to continue his defence testimony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yiep Joseph Suspended Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol denied accusations that he purchased weapons and ammunition for the Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Army-In Opposition and the White Army militia. During the 79 sessions on Wednesday, Puot told the court that key digital evidence presented against him had been fabricated by[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":44713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Suspended-Minister-of-Petroleum-Puot-Kang-Chuol-courtesy-photo.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44807"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44808,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44807\/revisions\/44808"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}