Rumbek, 24 February, 2022 / 9:20 pm (ACI Africa).
The shooting of the Bishop-elect for the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek in South Sudan last year was part of a plot to “scare him away” from the Episcopal See to which he had been appointed, and to have him abandon his mission in the Diocese, a suspect has told the High Court in Juba.
In a media report following the Wednesday, February 23 hearing of the ongoing case of the shooting of Mons. Christian Carlassare that occurred on 26 April 2021, Laat Makur Agok, identified as the last of the six suspects, said that one of the co-accused, a Catholic Priest, masterminded the plot.
“Fr. John Mathiang convened multiple meetings with the assailants on how they could attack the Bishop-elect in order to scare him away and he (Fr. Mathiang) could take over the helm of the Diocese of Rumbek,” Juba Monitor, a Juba-based media entity, has quoted Mr. Makur as saying.
In the report, Mr. Makur recalled the events following the news of the appointment of Mons. Carlassare that culminated in his being shot in both legs.
“I came to him in the Church Compound at 5:30 PM and we had a chat. He told me the breaking news that, it is the white man who is brought as a Bishop-elect,” Mr. Makur told judge Alexander Subek Sebur in reference to Fr. Mathiang.