Trial of South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar Begins on Treason Charges

 

The trial of South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar began on Monday under tight security measures in the capital, Juba, with his lawyer arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.

 

 

Machar, who has been suspended from office, has been under house arrest since March, raising fears of a renewed destructive civil war that previously erupted between 2013 and 2018 between forces of the Nuer tribe, to which he belongs, and the Dinka fighters loyal to his rival, President Salva Kiir.

 

 

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) rejects the charges against Machar and 20 others, including murder, treason, and crimes against humanity, over alleged involvement in raids by the White Army militia, dominated by the Nuer tribe in the northeast of the country, earlier this year.

 

 

Machar appeared behind bars in the special court wearing a dark suit and a blue tie, marking the first time he has appeared publicly since being placed under house arrest.

 

 

Kiir issued a decree suspending Machar from office earlier this month following the announcement of the charges against him.

 

 

Media attendance at the trial, held in a hall often used for musical events and weddings, was limited to the state-run radio and television corporation .

 

 

Machar’s Lawyer: Case Unconstitutional

 

Jerry Raimondo Leig, Machar’s lawyer, said the trial was unconstitutional, illegal, and illegitimate, arguing that it was null and void because Machar still enjoys the immunity of a sitting vice president.

 

 

Charges were also directed at seven of Machar’s allies, including the oil minister, earlier this month.

 

 

Leig said, “We request the court to order the immediate release of Dr. Riek Machar Teny, the First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan, and the seven defendents, as they were arrested and detained unconstitutionally.”

 

 

 

The Attorney General described Leig’s defense as “baseless and weak.”

 

 

The government accuses Machar of supporting the White Army, an ethnic militia largely made up of young Nuer men, during clashes with the army in Nasir town in the northeast of the country in March, which left dozens of civilians dead and displaced more than 80,000 people.

 

 

Kiir and Machar, both in their seventies, served in a fragile unity government under a peace agreement that ended the civil war.

 

 

The relationship between Machar, a former rebel leader in the bush, and Kiir has been tense for more than three decades.