SOUTH SUDAN VICE PRESIDENT RIEK MACHAR FACES MURDER, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY CHARGES

South Sudan’s government has formally charged Vice President Riek Machar with murder, treason and crimes against humanity over a deadly militia attack in Upper Nile state earlier this year.
Justice Minister Ruben Madol said the charges stem from the March assault on a government military base in Nasir, where more than 250 soldiers were killed. Authorities allege fighters from the White Army militia, which they claim operated under Machar’s influence, also desecrated corpses, persecuted civilians and targeted humanitarian workers.
Machar, a key signatory to the country’s fragile 2018 peace agreement and rival-turned-deputy to President Salva Kiir, has been under house arrest since March. He and leaders of his SPLM/A-in Opposition movement have denied any role in the violence.
The accusations have raised fears of renewed instability in the young nation, where political tensions remain high despite years of peace talks. Human rights groups and international observers have urged that Machar be accorded due process and warned that the case could strain the delicate power-sharing arrangement.