South Sudan's suspended vice president appears in court on treason charges

JUBA, South Sudan — The suspended vice president, Riek Machar, appeared in a courtroom cage Monday as he faced treason charges, marking the first time he has been seen in public since March, when he was placed under house arrest. President Salva Kiir suspended Machar as his deputy earlier this month after justice authorities filed criminal charges tied to an attack on a government garrison earlier this year. The trial is before a special court in the capital and is being broadcast on national television. Machar arrived in the courtroom with guards nearby and sat with several co-defendants as the proceedings opened.

Authorities allege Machar played a role in the attack on a garrison of government troops earlier this year. The charges include treason and crimes against humanity, as well as murder, conspiracy, terrorism, destruction of public property and military assets. The court’s proceedings were televised, providing a rare, public airing of a case in a country long plagued by political violence. Machar’s defense team argued Monday that the proceedings undermine the 2018 peace deal that formed the basis of the current transitional government, under which Machar has served as first vice president. The defense contended the peace agreement governs the country and preserves Machar’s status within the power-sharing framework.

Machar’s lawyers challenged the court’s jurisdiction, arguing the case violates the spirit of the 2018 peace deal that created the transitional government. They asserted that Machar remains vice president under the agreement, and that criminal charges against him would undermine the accord and destabilize the fragile power-sharing arrangement. The defense also labeled the court as “incompetent” and lacking jurisdiction to try him outside the framework of the peace deal. Prosecutors, meanwhile, said the charges are serious crimes that must be addressed through the legal process, regardless of political sensitivities.

Analysts viewed the case as having potential political implications beyond the courtroom. Daniel Akech, a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group in South Sudan, described the proceedings as potentially being used to advance a political power struggle, rather than a purely legal case. He cautioned that the charge sheet could be leveraged to pressure Machar or reconfigure the leadership balance within the transitional government. Presidential elections in South Sudan have been repeatedly postponed, contributing to questions about the durability of the peace agreement and the country’s path to stability.

The backdrop to Monday’s hearing is a history of rivalry between Kiir and Machar that dates to the 1990s, when Machar led a breakaway faction within the rebel movement that helped secure independence in 2011. Kiir, from the Dinka ethnic group, and Machar, from the Nuer, have long been at odds, a fault line that has repeatedly surfaced in times of political crisis. In 2013, Kiir fired Machar amid reports of a coup plot, and that year’s violence in Juba escalated into a civil war that killed tens of thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands. Although the two have formed a unity-type government in the transitional period since 2018, deep-seated distrust remains, and analysts say the relationship remains volatile as Machar seeks to ascend to the presidency in a future electoral contest.

South Sudan’s political calendar remains unsettled even as the country works under the peace accord’s framework. The transitional government, designed to run the country until elections, has faced repeated delays and internal tensions as various armed groups and factions operate near volatile urban centers like Juba. The trial’s timing underscored how fragile the peace remains and the risk that a high-profile legal fight could either reinforce a fragile truce or provoke renewed political instability.

As proceedings continued, prosecutors planned to present evidence linking Machar to the alleged attack and other alleged crimes, while defense attorneys prepared to press for dismissal on jurisdictional grounds and to argue that the case should be resolved within the peace accord’s framework. The judge adjourned the proceedings to Tuesday, leaving Machar and his co-defendants in the courtroom but with the outcome still in the balance as South Sudan’s political crisis persists.