{"id":5749,"date":"2025-09-23T10:27:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T08:27:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/?p=5749"},"modified":"2025-09-23T10:27:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T08:27:35","slug":"trial-of-south-sudans-first-vice-president-riek-machar-begins-in-juba-amid-tight-security-and-media-blackout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/?p=5749","title":{"rendered":"Trial of South Sudan\u2019s First Vice President Riek Machar Begins in Juba Amid Tight Security and Media Blackout"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Juba \u2013 Al-Na<\/strong>eim Mubarak Kuol<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first session in the trial of the First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan and leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), Dr. Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon<\/strong>, began this Monday morning at Freedom Hall<\/strong> in the capital, Juba. The trial marks one of the most high-profile political and judicial cases in South Sudan since the signing of the Revitalized Peace Agreement<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Machar, along with 82 other defendants<\/strong>, faces charges including high treason, destruction of public property, leading terrorist militias, committing crimes against humanity, conspiracy, and terrorism<\/strong>, according to the indictment filed by the Ministry of Justice. The ministry stated in an official press release that 13 of the accused remain at large<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Media Ban Sparks Outrage Among Journalists<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the Ministry of Justice\u2019s earlier announcement that the trial would be public, independent media outlets were barred<\/strong> from covering the session, which was broadcast exclusively on the state-owned SSBC<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Union of Journalists of South Sudan<\/strong> condemned the media ban, calling it a violation of press freedom, the right to information<\/strong>, and an undermining of the principles of justice and freedom of expression<\/strong>. The Union demanded neutral and transparent coverage<\/strong> of a trial of significant public interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Defense Team Challenges Court Jurisdiction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the opening of the session, the defense team<\/strong> led by senior lawyer Dr. Geri Raimondo Lege<\/strong> filed a legal challenge to the jurisdiction of the special court<\/strong>, arguing that trying Dr. Machar before this judicial body was unconstitutional and lacked legal and constitutional authority<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The defense based its argument on Articles 103 and 104 of the Transitional Constitution<\/strong>, the Standing Orders of the Transitional Legislative Assembly (2013, amended 2021)<\/strong>, and the Revitalized Peace Agreement signed on September 12, 2018<\/strong>, which was incorporated into the constitution through Amendment No. 6 of 2020<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Geri argued that \u201cDr. Machar may not be legally prosecuted unless two-thirds of the National Legislative Assembly approve it, according to Article 103, paragraph 2.\u201d<\/strong> Any court operating without this prerequisite, he said, lacks legitimacy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He further stated that the formation of the special court itself is unconstitutional<\/strong>, as it was established not by an act of parliament<\/strong>, but rather by a decision of the Chief Justice<\/strong>, which violates international and regional treaties ratified by South Sudan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Court Adjourns the Session<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court requested a response from the government side<\/strong> to the defense\u2019s arguments. However, the public prosecution<\/strong> was unprepared to deliver a legal reply during the first session and requested additional time to prepare, which the court granted. The session was postponed until Tuesday<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ministry of Justice Clarifies<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a press release, the Ministry of Justice<\/strong> clarified that the document presented during the minister\u2019s press conference was merely a summary of the main points<\/strong> reached by the investigation committee. The full version<\/strong>, which includes detailed information compliant with legal texts, has been included in the official case file<\/strong> submitted to the court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Juba \u2013 Al-Naeim Mubarak Kuol The first session in the trial of the First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan and leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5751,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5749\/revisions\/5751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}