A special court in South Sudan has ruled that it does have the jurisdiction to prosecute suspended Vice-President Riek Machar and seven co-accused, who are charged with murder, treason, and crimes against humanity.
The court dismissed all objections by Machar's legal team regarding its authority, the constitutionality of the proceedings, and the claim that he was immune from prosecution. The case will continue on Wednesday.
Machar has dismissed the charges brought against him two weeks ago as a political witch-hunt. These charges have raised fears of a return to civil war.
The charges stem from an attack in March by a militia allegedly linked to Machar, which killed 250 soldiers and a general.
Since then, he has been under house arrest.
Machar's defense team argued that the alleged crimes should not be tried by a national court but by a hybrid court under the African Union, as per the 2018 Peace Agreement that ended the five-year civil war between his forces and those loyal to President Salva Kiir.
However, the court argued that it had the authority to try national offenses, as a hybrid court had not yet been established.
Presiding Judge James Alala ruled, The special court enjoys jurisdiction to try this case according to the Transitional Constitution 2011 as amended.
The court also dismissed Machar's claim of immunity, clarifying that only the president holds constitutional immunity, stating, The First Vice-President does not have constitutional immunity, according to the transitional constitution.
Furthermore, the court expelled two of Machar's lawyers after the prosecution argued that they did not have valid licenses, ruling that they could only participate once their licenses were renewed.
Machar's lead lawyer, Geri Raimondo Legge Lubati, testified that his client had been subjected to a politicized media campaign by ministers and other officials, urging the court to uphold the constitutional guarantee of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
The charges have sparked fears of renewed conflict, prompting calls for calm from the UN, African Union, and neighboring countries in the world’s newest nation, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after decades of war.
