10/03/2026
𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟓𝟖𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐇.𝐄. 𝐃𝐫. 𝐑𝐢𝐞𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐏𝐋𝐌/𝐀 (𝐈𝐎) 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬
Juba, March 9, 2026 — The SPLM-IG-established sham court, known as the Special Court on the Incident of Nasir, which is targeting leaders and members of the SPLM/A (IO), notably First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, held its 58th session this morning at its usual venue—Freedom Hall.
During today’s session, the defence continued cross‑examining the prosecution’s final witness, Peter Rafadi Calvin – a South African digital‑forensic expert – about the digital‑forensic report he prepared for the SPLM (IG) and submitted to the sham court. The defence asked whether an independent forensic expert could verify the findings of the prosecution’s forensic expert and requested that the court permit the opening of a phone for practical cross‑examination.
The defence asked Peter Rafadi Calvin whether he had submitted the hash values, tools used to verify data integrity, to the court and whether these could be made available for independent examination.
Calvin responded that the hash values and raw material had not been submitted; however, he asserted that they could be shared with a defence expert after proper consideration of the chain of custody.
The defence further asked the so-called expert whether another independent forensic expert could repeat the analysis of his report and reach the same conclusions.
Calvin replied affirmatively and added that another digital‑forensic expert would obtain the same answers. He noted that, although the passwords for H.E. Dr. Machar’s MacBook and Samsung phones – which form part of the evidence – were unavailable, “the court will then issue a full directive to obtain the passwords and provide them to another independent digital‑forensic expert,” he said.
The defence requested that the sham court produce and charge a Samsung phone belonging to the first accused, Hon. Pout Kang Chol, and order the expert to open the phone for practical cross‑examination.
The prosecution objected, calling the request a delay tactic and warning that allowing devices to be opened in court could risk tampering with evidence. It suggested that the defence could instead appoint its own forensic expert to review the devices.
“If the defence doubts the report, let them bring their own expert to examine all the phones and laptops, including those that were not accessed. For we believe only an expert can challenge another expert,” the prosecution said.
The defence maintained that opening the phones was within its rights.
“We don’t understand why the prosecution fears the opening of the accused’s phones, given that the expert extracted the messages either directly from the phones or using hash values. We are exercising our right as defence counsel to protect the accused,” the defence said.
The defence further argues that the expert failed to provide the hash values and that there is no way for the defence or the court to assess the credibility of the messages unless the expert shows them directly from the original phones of the accused.
Presiding judge of the sham court, Dr. James Alala Deng, adjourned the trial until Wednesday, 11 March, when the court will rule on the defence’s request for practical cross‑examination.
A hash value is a fixed‑length numeric string that uniquely identifies data. Hash values represent large amounts of data as much smaller numeric values, so they are used with digital signatures; a hash value can be signed more efficiently than signing the larger data set. Hash values are also useful for verifying the integrity of data transmitted through insecure channels. The hash value of received data can be compared with the hash value of the data as it was sent to determine whether the data has been altered.
The SPLM/A (IO) continues to vigorously reject the so-called "Special Court", considering it a tool to abrogate the Revitalized Agreement and target H.E. Dr. Riek Machar and the SPLM/A (IO) through a perceived political witch-hunt. The movement reiterated its demands for the immediate and unconditional release of H.E. Dr. Riek Machar and all SPLM/A (IO) detainees.
𝑪𝒅𝒆. 𝑷𝒖𝒐𝒌 𝑩𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝑩𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒂𝒏𝒈
