A South Sudanese dissident based in the United States has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for plotting a coup backed by military-grade weapons, US authorities said.
Peter Biar Ajak, a Harvard-educated economist and outspoken critic of President Salva Kiir, attempted to traffic arms to South Sudan with the aim of overthrowing the government, according to the Justice Department.
Ajak was arrested in March 2024 alongside Abraham Chol Keech, a South Sudanese-born US citizen. Both men later pleaded guilty to violating US laws on the export of weapons and military equipment.
A federal court in Arizona sentenced Ajak to 46 months in prison, while Keech received a 41-month sentence in December.
Prosecutors said the pair sought to acquire a $4 million cache of weapons, including Stinger missiles, grenade launchers and hundreds of automatic firearms.
The negotiations, which lasted more than a year, were conducted with individuals posing as arms suppliers who were in fact undercover federal agents.
Officials said Ajak planned to orchestrate the coup from exile near Washington, DC, and install himself in power.
Ajak has lived in the United States since 2020, after being granted asylum over alleged threats to his life.
He was previously imprisoned in South Sudan in 2018 for publicly calling on President Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar to step down.
After serving time on espionage charges, Ajak was pardoned in 2020, before authorities say he began planning the failed plot abroad.
