Former Vice President of South Sudan, Riek Machar, appeared in court on Monday as his trial started.
He was in a cage as he appeared in court in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
According to South Sudanese justice authorities, Machar is facing criminal charges for his alleged role in an attack on a garrison of government troops earlier in 2025.
Other charges include murder, conspiracy, terrorism, destruction of public property and military assets and crimes against humanity.
Machar was placed under house arrest in March.
His trial alongside his co-accused was televised nationally.
Machars’s lawyers argued that the court was incompetent and therefore lacked jurisdiction on the matter. They further defended Machar, claiming that he is protected from such persecutions since he is part of the signatories to the 2018 peace deal that brought the end of a civil war that claimed the lives of at least 400,000 people.
Both Machar and President Salva Kiir are not on good terms. Kiir hails from the Dinka, the largest ethnic group, while Machar hails from the Nuer, the second largest.
Source:Africa Publicity
