In a video tabled yesterday in the High Court, Rumbek Diocese Bishop-elect, Christian Carlassare, revealed that he was attacked by two men on April 25, 2021, at a time he suspected to be “after midnight.”

One of the assailants, according to Carlassare, was short and slender and armed with an AK47. He, however, was not sure whether the other, who was tall and well-built, carried a gun or not. He noted that it was the slender guy who shot him and when he ran to his room, the two followed him and knocked him with their guns till he fell face-down.

 “I have never seen them before, and I won’t be able to recognise them. I only noticed that one was tall, well-built, with a white cloth around his cloak; the other was shorter, slender, and dressed in a Buddhist uniform. I and Father Osman were standing before them,” said the Carlassare.

“While we tried to engage them in a conversation, I noticed that the slender guy was carrying an AK47. Suddenly, the slender guy stood in front of me, then he started shooting. I was immediately hit by some bullets on both lower legs and I decided to run into my room before they finished the bullets. They followed me, then they knocked their guns against my shoulder. I collapsed on the ground facing down.”

He said that it was Fr Osman who came to him later on while he was lying down, asking whether he was alive and anointed his head. He mentioned that when many people gathered around him later, he noticed suspect number 1, among the crowd, as he was being rushed to the hospital.

Although investigations were carried out by both counsels of the plaintiff and the accused into the investigator’s statement, it was imperative to set date for the witnesses to give their statements before the court today. However, no justification can be made so far into the case.

Trust in judiciary

The Archbishop and the Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya and South Sudan, Bert van Megen, who attended the hearing described Carlassare as “a man who stands behind the truth and justice,” stating clearly that the return of the bishop-elect to Rumbek was yet to be decided by the church.

Bert said the statement of the bishop-elect was a story that he knew and that it was registered in Italy because Carlassare was currently was in Italy.

“In fact I know Bishop-elect Christian Carlassare quite well and the story he told there in the video is exactly the one that I know of in the smallest details. Of course, this video was registered already in Italy because he is in Italy,  and that is also the way I know he was very composed and he is a man who stands behind the truth and justice,” Bert said.

He said the Catholic Church had trust in the judicial system in South Sudan and would closely monitor the case although the church is all about reconciliation and forgiveness.

“We have full trust in the judicial system of South Sudan, of course, we as a Church, and being a major representative of the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church will follow it closely, however, once again, it is all in the hands of the state of South Sudan,” he said.

Archbishop Bert maintained that the church and the state were two different institutions and it was fit to allow the state to perform its duties.

“One thing, of course, this is in the hands of the state, now the state is prosecuting because some of the accused of course they are suspects and of course, nothing has been proven till now, are alleged to have committed a heinous crime and the state is looking for justice in that,” the Archbishop said.

“We as a church, we go for the way of reconciliation and forgiveness, sure but these are like two different fields on which the game is being played in essence. I do not think it is up to us to comment on the process, this is the responsibility of the state of South Sudan.”

Investigator’s report

On Monday, the investigating officer presented his investigation before the high court judge Alexander Sabor Subek with the recorded statements of two suspects showing that they planned the shooting of bishop-elect, Christian Carlassare.

The investigator read his report saying that suspect number 5 confessed that they planned the shooting with suspect number six purposely to scare the bishop-elect so that their relatives who are also priests could take the position because they were also qualified.

Suspect number 5, said that suspect number 6 masterminded the shooting. The statement also mentioned that suspect number 5 agreed that he was the first to shoot the victim.

Suspected number 6 in the investigator’s statement said he did not shoot the bishop-elect. He maintained that his gun had five bullets, and he retained them without shooting.

But both of them denied before the court that the statements were theirs, claiming that some of the statements were not theirs.

When asked whether the statement was his, the second last suspect claimed that some statements were doctored.

However, some of the suspects claimed the statements were not theirs. There are those who accepted some words but rejected others in the statements presented by the investigator.

Pieces of evidence were presented, including two Ak47s, two cartridges, clothes, a phone, and bullets, among others.

The accused lawyer, Malith Mading Jokthiang, said the evidence given was not enough to justify anything in the case.

He asked for a free and fair trial and for the process to be sped up because his clients had been in prison for nearly a year.

“Today’s session was good except that some of the things were missing, including the video to show that the victim really existed. The case is still on their side, if they bring the video and present that video to the victim, then we will go into issues after that, ” Malith said.

“Today was only for the investigation hearing of the investigator. We are still behind on reaching into issues. ” I cannot say there was evidence given because of all they have presented, we are yet to challenge it and object to it through cross-examination by the investigator. We don’t know whether the video exists or not exist; we are not aware of it. At this stage, we believe our clients are free of all charges.”

Shooting                                                                                                      

Carlassare was allegedly wounded on April 25, 2021, after he was appointed the bishop-elect of the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek on March 8, 2021, by Pope Francis. He was to fill the vacant position of Bishop Caesar Mazzolari who collapsed and died during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, leaving the position vacant since 2011.

Carlassare was supposed to be enthroned as the bishop of the diocese of Rumbek on May 23, 2021. The bishop-elect, after he was wounded, was flown to Kenya where he was treated and recovered. He said he had forgiven his attackers before he departed for the Vatican.

President Salva Kiir Mayardit described the shooting as a disgrace and ordered an immediate investigation.

 “The reprehensible act of violence meted on him is unacceptable, and it must stop. I call upon all South Sudanese to condemn the criminals who carried out this heinous crime in the strongest terms possible,” the president noted.