JUBA
South Sudan has opened a trial against First Vice President Riek Machar, who was dismissed by his long-time rival, President Salva Kiir, and charged with murder, treason, and crimes against humanity in connection with a militia-led attack fueled by ethnic tensions. Machar and seven co-accused, including Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol, appeared in court on Monday, seated inside a barred cage during proceedings that were broadcast live on national television. He has spent months under house arrest in Juba following government investigations into his allies.
Supporters of suspended South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar wave at him during his trial on charges including treason and crimes against humanity, at the Freedom Hall in Juba
Earlier this month, a presidential decree announced on state radio said Kiir had suspended Machar over his alleged role in directing the White Army—a loosely organized group of armed youths—to attack a military base in Nasir, northeastern South Sudan, in March. The government says more than 250 soldiers were killed in the assault, allegedly carried out on Machar’s orders.
Edmund Yakani, executive director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, said the trial must be “transparent and fair” to help restore public confidence in the judiciary. He also urged both leaders and their supporters to resolve political disputes through dialogue rather than violence.
Machar’s party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army-in Opposition (SPLM/IO), dismissed the charges as “fabricated” and accused authorities of illegally detaining its members. His lawyer called the process a “politically driven trial” overseen by “an incompetent court that lacks jurisdiction.”
Angelina Teny, wife of Suspended South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar, attends his trial on charges including treason and crimes against humanity,
Rising Fears of Renewed Civil War
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has called for restraint from all parties, warning that the country risks losing the “hard-won gains of the past seven years” and sliding back into civil war.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, has struggled with instability since its independence from Sudan in 2011. Just two years later, in 2013, the country plunged into a brutal civil war after Kiir, from the Dinka ethnic group, clashed with Machar, a Nuer leader. The conflict killed an estimated 400,000 people and displaced more than four million before a 2018 peace deal brought about a fragile “unity government.”
However, mistrust persisted. The two leaders maintained rival armed factions that were never fully unified, reforms stalled, and elections were repeatedly delayed. Recent months have seen renewed clashes across the country, with both sides accusing each other of violating ceasefire agreements.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has accused South Sudan’s political elite of looting billions of dollars in public resources while the country faces a worsening food crisis.
“The country has been captured by a predatory elite that has institutionalised the systematic looting of the nation’s wealth for private gain,” the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said last week.
SOURCE: Aljazeera
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