South Sudan’s justice minister has ordered the release of a hotel owner and staff arrested since March and the reopening of a Juba hotel where three young women from the same family were found dead – a move that a lawyer for the victims’ family said on Friday undermines the ongoing investigation.

Justice Minister Joseph Geng Akech Geng issued the order on Wednesday, overturning a previous ministry ruling after concluding that the prolonged detention of the suspects and the closure of the hotel lacked a legal basis.

The case, registered as Criminal Case No. 2174/2025, stems from a March incident in which three women — Achol Waat Arol, 21; Achol Chol Arol, 19; and Abeny Chol Arol, 15 — were found dead in a room at the Freedom Hotel in Juba’s Atlabara neighborhood.

A criminal case was lodged at the Northern Division Police Station in Juba on March 28 under sections 206, 191, and 48 of the South Sudan Penal Code Act, 2008.

According to a ministerial memo seen by Radio Tamazuj, the hotel owner and five other suspects were arrested on March 17 and had been in custody for nearly seven months. Minister Geng stated that their detention far exceeded the three-month limit permitted under South Sudanese law and that no proper authorization had been sought from the Court of Appeal.

“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 wrote, calling the closure “unnecessary and absurd in the eyes of the law.”

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.”

The suspects were represented by advocates Hanadi El-Rashed El-Gadel and Stephen Martin.

Family Lawyer Criticizes Decision

The ruling was criticized by advocate Josephine Adhet Deng, a lawyer for the family of the three deceased women.

She told Radio Tamazuj on Friday that the minister’s order disregarded an incomplete investigation and dismissed crucial evidence.

“The incident happened in March, 2025, at Freedom Hotel in Atlabara. The three sisters were in the hotel together with the husband of one of them. That night, all three were found dead,” Deng said.

She said the investigation had revealed inconsistencies and that investigators suspected toxic gas or a chemical spray might have been released through the hotel’s air-conditioning system. While part of the system was sent to a lab in Nairobi for testing, investigators later found it had been replaced by hotel management, suggesting possible evidence tampering, Deng added.

“Some of the keys to the rooms were also missing, and the investigation was incomplete when the minister intervened,” she said. “Several suspects are still at large, and not all evidence has been analyzed.”

Deng said she was “shocked” by the minister’s order, noting that the case involves a murder charge under a section of South Sudanese law that is non-bailable.

“I believe the minister either did not review the full case file or was unaware of its contents,” she said.

Minister Accused of Improperly Releasing Suspects

The father of the three sisters, Chol Arol, accused the justice minister of improperly releasing the prime suspects. He stated that the medical report confirmed they died because a chemical spray might have been released through the hotel’s air-conditioning system.

Arol said his daughters died at the Freedom Hotel after two of them had moved in to care for their sister, who was sick.

“That morning, I received a call from my son-in-law, Makuen Aguer, who said he could not find the girls. I went to the hotel and found my son-in-law at the reception with the hotel owner,” Arol said. “The hotel owner opened the room, and we found the three girls lying on the floor.”

“The medical report confirmed the problem was the air conditioner,” Arol said, referring to forensic analysis conducted abroad.

Arol blamed the minister for freeing the suspects while the investigation was ongoing and accused public prosecutors of involvement in the decision. Radio Tamazuj could not independently verify these allegations. The justice ministry and public prosecutor’s office could not immediately be reached for comment. Radio Tamazuj