JUBA – South Sudan’s Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Joseph Geng Akech, has directed the reopening of Freedom Hotel where three sisters died of suspected food poisoning in March 2025, and ordered the release of the hotel owner and staff.
Akech’s decision followed an appeal by the defendants, but it has since sparked outrage from the victims’ family and their lawyer.
The three sisters – Achol Waat Arol (21), Achol Chol Arol (19), and Abeny Chol Arol (15) – were found dead in a hotel room on March 28. Preliminary investigations suggested that a toxic chemical or gas may have been released through the air-conditioning system.
One of the deceased, Achol Chol Arol, had just been married with a dowry of 200 cows. Her younger half-sisters were students at Bishop Mazzolari Secondary School in Rumbek.
According to a ministerial order extended to Juba Witness, Akech said the prolonged detention of the suspects had “no legal basis” and exceeded the three-month limit allowed under South Sudanese law. He described the continued closure of the hotel as “unnecessary and absurd.”
“I cannot find any legal basis or reasons for the hotel to remain closed since the investigations of this case have been completed since June 2025,” Geng said in the statement.
The minister’s decision noted that forensic testing on the victims was conducted at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in Nairobi, Kenya, with results received by investigators and logged in the case diary in June 2025.
After the forensic analysis was completed, defense lawyers for the suspects made several unsuccessful bail applications to Central Equatoria State prosecutors, the document added.
The Director of Public Prosecutions later granted bail and ordered the hotel reopened, but that decision was overturned by the ministry’s Acting Undersecretary, prompting the appeal to the justice minister.
The minister, who was appointed last month, ultimately ordered the hotel reopened, though the specific room where the deaths occurred is to remain sealed. He also directed that the suspects be released on bail and that the case file be transferred to a court for trial “without further delay.”
However, the victims’ lawyer, Josephin Adhet Deng, and their father, Chol Arol, condemned the move, arguing that the investigation remains incomplete and some suspects are still at large. Deng also alleged possible evidence tampering after parts of the air-conditioning system were replaced during the probe.
The victims’ fathers accused the ministry of releasing the main suspects despite a medical report confirming the deaths were caused by a chemical emitted through the air conditioner.
The Justice Ministry has yet to respond to the allegations. The case, Criminal Case No. 2174/2025, is expected to proceed to court.
