{"id":2076,"date":"2026-10-01T12:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T12:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goldentimessouthsudan.com\/?p=2076"},"modified":"2026-10-01T12:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T12:57:11","slug":"south-sudan-critic-held-in-uae-for-a-year-without-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goldentimessouthsudan.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/01\/south-sudan-critic-held-in-uae-for-a-year-without-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"South Sudan critic held in UAE for a year without charge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>A South Sudanese political commentator has been held in the United Arab Emirates for a year without charge, Human Rights Watch says, amid growing scrutiny of Abu Dhabi&#8217;s treatment of critics of its foreign allies.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Samuel Peter Oyay was arrested at his home in Dubai on 30 September 2025 by Emirati security officers in civilian clothes, according to a source cited by Human Rights Watch (HRW).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The officers searched his home for about two hours and did not show his family an arrest warrant or explain why he was being detained, the source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr Oyay, who fled South Sudan in 2014 fearing for his safety, had been living in the UAE, where he ran a private business and wrote regularly for independent South Sudanese media platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His articles frequently criticised corruption and South Sudan&#8217;s political leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His last article, published nine days before his arrest, criticised the trial of opposition leader Riek Machar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr Oyay described the trial as a political attempt by President Salva Kiir to weaken a rival rather than a genuine effort to deliver justice, according to HRW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Machar&#8217;s trial was still under way when President Kiir dissolved South Sudan&#8217;s transitional government on 22 September 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>HRW says Emirati authorities allowed Mr Oyay to make a phone call to his family about two weeks after his arrest, but his whereabouts were not disclosed to relatives for about five months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In February, he told a source that he was being held at al-Wathba prison. He was transferred to another prison in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His family was finally allowed to visit him on 8 July, after an earlier scheduled visit was cancelled because he had been moved to another facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He is reportedly allowed one short telephone call a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEmirati authorities should immediately release Samuel Oyay, who has been held for a year without charge,\u201d said Joey Shea, HRW&#8217;s senior UAE researcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>HRW says the case highlights concerns over UAE laws that allow state security authorities to detain people for extended periods without judicial oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The UAE&#8217;s criminal procedure law says detainees should be brought before a public prosecutor within 48 hours. However, HRW says state security legislation provides wider detention powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The case also comes as relations between the UAE and South Sudan have strengthened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>President Kiir visited the UAE at least three times in 2025, while a UAE company signed a reported \u20ac12bn ($12.9bn) oil-for-cash agreement with South Sudan in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>HRW has previously documented cases involving South Sudanese critics in exile who were allegedly disappeared or forcibly returned with the involvement of South Sudanese authorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A South Sudanese political commentator has been held in the United Arab Emirates for a year without charge, Human Rights Watch says, amid growing scrutiny of Abu Dhabi&#8217;s treatment of critics of its foreign allies. Samuel Peter Oyay was arrested at his home in Dubai on 30 September 2025 by Emirati security officers in civilian [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[95,26,97],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>South Sudan critic held in UAE for a year without charge - GT South Sudan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/goldentimessouthsudan.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/01\/south-sudan-critic-held-in-uae-for-a-year-without-charge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Sudan critic held in UAE for a year without charge - GT South Sudan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A South Sudanese political commentator has been held in the United Arab Emirates for a year without charge, Human Rights Watch says, amid growing scrutiny of Abu Dhabi&#8217;s treatment of critics of its foreign allies. 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