The South Sudan Court rejects Riek Machar’s offer to stop the murder and the betrayal trial

A special court in South Sudan judged that he had jurisdiction to continue the suspended vice-president Riek Machar and seven co-accused, who are accused of murder, betrayal and crimes against humanity.

The court rejected all the objections of the legal team of Machar concerning its authority, the constitutionality of the procedure and the assertion that it was immune to prosecution. The case will continue on Wednesday.

Machar rejected the accusations brought against him two weeks ago as a “witch hunt”. They raised fears of the return to the civil war.

The accusations arise from an attack in March by a militia which would have been linked to Machar, who killed 250 soldiers and a general.

Since then, he has been under house arrest.

MACAR’s defense team had argued that alleged crimes should not be tried by a national court but by a hybrid court under the African Union, in accordance with the 2018 peace agreement which ended the five -year civil war between its forces and the faithful to President Salva Kiir.

However, the court argued that it had the power to try national offenses, because a hybrid court had not yet been created.

“The Special Court benefits from jurisdiction to judge this case according to the 2011 transition constitution as modified,” judged Judge James Alala.

He also rejected the argument of the Machar team according to which he had immunity against prosecution, adding that the provision applied only to the president.

“The first vice-president has no constitutional immunity, according to the transitional constitution,” said the judge.

The court also expelled two of the lawyers in Machar after the accusation argued that they had no valid licenses.

The President Judge ruled that the two could only participate until they renewed their licenses.

MAACHACH’s principal lawyer, GERI RAIMONDO LEGGE LUBATI, told court that his client and the co-accused had been “subject to a politicized media campaign” by ministers and other senior officials.

“To the public, this conduct is equivalent to an illegal conviction and prior to our accused and a blatant violation of the constitutional guarantee of presumption of innocence … The accused is innocent until he is out of reasonable doubt,” he said.

The accusations aroused fears of a conflict renewed in the country, with the UN, the African Union and the neighboring countries all calling for calm in the most recent country in the world, which has only obtained its independence from Sudan in 2011 after decades of war.