Rumbek, 23 February, 2022 / 11:30 pm (ACI Africa).
The Catholic Priest suspected to have been involved in the plans to shoot the Bishop-elect of South Sudan’s Rumbek Diocese has denied the claims, saying he was “not party” to the plot.
Appearing before the judge at the High Court in Juba Monday, February 21, Fr. John Mathiang said in reference to Mons. Christian Carlassare who was shot in both legs in April last year, “I am not party to the shooting of Bishop-elect.”
In a Catholic Radio Network (CRN) report about the ongoing case that was first mentioned on January 26, Fr. Mathiang told the court that he was woken up “by gunshots on that fateful night” of 26 April 2021 “only to find that (we were) under attack.”
The member of the Clergy of Rumbek Diocese further said that he, alongside Fr. Andrea Osman Okello, “came to the rescue of the wounded Bishop-elect.”
Testifying against a witness who, during the February 18 hearing, claimed that the Catholic Priest suspect had lobbied “for the Bishop's position in Rumbek”, Fr. Mathiang said that he was not opposed to the appointment of Mons. Carlassare as Bishop for the South Sudanese Diocese.
