01/10/2025
Machar Trial ‘Political,’ Says Opposition Group
October 1, 2025 – JUBA
A South Sudanese rebel group on Tuesday condemned the ongoing trial of suspended First Vice President Riek Machar and seven senior SPLM-IO officials, calling the proceedings politically and tribally motivated.
The South Sudan People’s Movement/Army (SSPM/A), led by Gen. Stephen Buay Rolnyang, said the trial violates the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) and risks further destabilizing the country’s fragile transitional government.
Bush Akech, SSPM/A spokesperson and information chair, told Radio Tamazuj that the trial, currently underway in Juba, is “illegal” and intended to “humiliate a principal signatory” of the peace agreement.
Machar, leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), and his seven co-defendants were arrested over alleged involvement in deadly clashes in Nasir earlier this year.
“The ongoing trial is biased,” Akech said. “The peace agreement serves as the supreme law. In cases like this, it calls for the establishment of a hybrid court to handle serious crimes.”
The hybrid court, envisioned under the R-ARCSS, is meant to address war crimes and major violations. Akech argued that the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMVM) should investigate incidents like Nasir and report to regional peace guarantors, including IGAD.
He also accused regional actors, particularly Uganda, of overstepping their neutral role and supporting President Salva Kiir’s administration.
Akech claimed the trial is part of a long-standing political vendetta by Kiir and other elites, dating back to SPLA divisions in the early 1990s. He further raised constitutional concerns, noting that Machar, as First Vice President, enjoys immunity from prosecution under the transitional constitution based on the 2018 peace deal.
“You cannot put one partner to the peace agreement on trial while claiming to implement it,” Akech said. “Both Salva Kiir and Riek Machar are protected from such legal actions under the agreement.”
Regarding the Nasir clashes, Akech said tensions between government forces and local Nuer militias (White Army) triggered the violence. The militias had repeatedly raised concerns about alleged abuses by government troops and requested their replacement by unified forces stipulated under the peace accord.
“When the government ignored these calls and attempted to disarm them using allied militias, the White Army launched a preemptive attack, resulting in casualties on both sides,” he said.
The SSPM/A has called on regional and international actors to support the formation of a technocratic transitional government, urging both Kiir and Machar to step aside to allow peaceful elections and constitutional reforms.
“The only way to restore stability is through a neutral, technocratic government,” Akech said. “Otherwise, the country risks fragmenting into tribal enclaves.”
He reiterated that accountability should follow the mechanisms established under the peace deal:
“If cases like Nasir occur, they should be handled by CTSAMVM, not through politically motivated trials,” he said.