A lawyer representing an officer from the Military Intelligence has dismissed claims that his client threatened the lives of three advocates over a piece of land in Juba.

Captain Dut Deng is a respondent in a court case over plot number 11, block 1, third class in Hai Malakal.

An affidavit shows that the plot was sold to Nile Commercial Bank in 2008 by a Sudanese national, Adam Zachariah.

But Capt. Dut is said to have laid claim over the same land, saying he too bought it from the Sudanese national.

During a cross-examination in the court, Capt. Dut is alleged to have publicly threatened to kill advocates Godfrey Victor, Bout Kuet and Alias Vitali.

The three lawyers told Eye Radio that Dut was armed with a pistol during the hearing at the High Court in Juba.

They said they were forced to open a new case with the police regarding the threats on their lives.

“It was Dut Deng Dhal-Jang who made the threat and the intimidation against us as a person, but not as the institution of the military intelligence,” said one of the lawyers, Godfrey Victor.

However, Dut’s lawyer dismissed the allegations as untrue, saying his client was not armed while in court.

“That’s a total lie. Dut did not have any gun and he was not even in uniform,” Jacob Anyang told Eye Radio Tuesday.

South Sudan has had a rule of law problem since its birth, according to Africa Center for Strategic Center.

Besides, a recent report by Amnesty International suggests that lack of independence has crippled the justice system in South Sudan.