Twic Commissioner Tong Goch freed after spending 12 months behind bars

Former Twic Commissioner Deng Tong Goch has been cleared of any wrongdoing, after spending more than a year in jail over alleged links to inter-communal conflict in Aneet, in early 2022.

This was the recommendation of an investigative committee set up by President Salva Kiir last year to determine the root cause of the Aneet clashes that erupted last year.

Tong was arrested in May last on suspicion that he was one of the inter-communal conflict’s perpetrators, leaving close to 20 people dead and tens more injured.

But Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi, who headed the committee, absolved the Tong of any wrongdoing, adding there was nothing to link him with the deadly clashes.

“He is free and can be given any assignment,” read the recommendation by the Abdelbagi-led investigative committee.

Tong’s position is currently held by an acting commissioner, so it is unclear whether the president will reinstate him or reassign him to another task.