Peter Biar arrested in U.S. on arms export conspiracy charges

WASHINGTON – Prominent exiled South Sudan opposition leader Peter Biar Ajak was arrested in the United States on Tuesday on charges of conspiring to illegally export arms to his home country, which is under a United Nations arms embargo due to ongoing violence.

Ajak, along with Abraham Chol, a former Secretary-General of the Jonglei state Chamber of Commerce, was apprehended following the unsealing of a complaint against them, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

The complaint alleges that Ajak and Chol attempted to purchase and export sophisticated weapons from the U.S. to South Sudan between February 2023 and February 2024.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division stated that the two men sought to illegally exports arms to a country where escalating violence has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions.

“As alleged, the defendants sought to unlawfully smuggle heavy weapons and ammunition from the United States into South Sudan – a country that is subject to a U.N. arms embargo due to the violence between armed groups, which has killed and displaced thousands,” he said.  Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

“The Department of Justice will not tolerate the illicit export of weapons overseas, and we will hold accountable those who would violate our laws,” he added.

If convicted, Ajak and Chol could face up to 20 years in prison for conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), up to 20 years in prison for conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), and up to 10 years in prison for smuggling goods from the United States.

U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino of the District of Arizona emphasized the importance of preventing the illicit export of arms.

“Sanctions and export controls help ensure that American weapons are not used internationally to destabilize other sovereign nations,” he said.

“We thank our law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations, for continuing to use their legacy customs enforcement authority to protect the public,” he added.

According to the US Justice Department, the investigation into the case is being conducted by the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Defense’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, and the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement, with assistance from other agencies.

The prosecution of the case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona and the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, has been plagued by conflict and instability, with various armed groups vying for power and resources. The United Nations imposed an arms embargo on the country in 2018 in an effort to curb the violence.

Biar fled to the United States in 2020 after having been jailed for about two years without charges by the South Sudan National Security Service.

Last year, he formed the RSSP and declared readiness for elections slated for December 2024, which he said was being hampered by the government of President Salva Kiir Mayardit.

Attempts to contact Biar’s family were unsuccessful as phone calls rang unanswered.