A South Sudan People’s Defence Forces Officer known as Yak Garang Yak was yesterday charged with a first-degree murder case by the court martial after pleading guilty to the crime in the court’s fifth session.
The Officer was accused of shooting dead four people on January 4th including three Syrians and one local in Akon village, Gogrial West and Warrap state.
Reflecting back on the cause of the murder, Yak killed his boss, a Syrian contractor over salary increment issues since what he was earning was not enough to cater for his family yet they had an agreement of increasing his allowances by SSPD 20,000.
He further ordered the other three deceased to lie down and he shot at them and later attempted to flee the crime scene using the victim’s car. His route to escape wasn’t a success since he was arrested by his fellow soldier and he admitted to have committed the crime to teach his boss a lesson.
A first degree murder case in South Sudan can be rewarded with a death penalty or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole since it is the most serious of all homicide offenses and attracts the highest punishment.
